Finding Myself
by DreamonAlina
Summary: Danielle James lost her family in a fire. But she knew it was a vampire attack. After going to Mystic Falls to live with her Uncle, Danni is hell bent on uncovering it's secrets that'll hopefully lead her to who killed her family. But keeping secrets of your own can be dangerous as well... Damon/OC. Full summary inside.
1. Brand New Day

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Vampire Diaries. Only my OC, Danielle "Danni" James and any other characters that I make up!

**Summary: **Danielle's family died in a fire. At least, that's what their cause of death appears to be. But Danni knew better. Her family was killed by a vampire, and the vampire had lit the match to cover their tracks. And when she moves back to her hometown of Mystic Falls to live with her Uncle, it's the perfect opportunity to find out what vampire did it. After all, Mystic Falls was crawling with them. But what happens when she crosses paths with the Salvatore brothers? And is it the first time that she has? Will avenging her family remain a top priority, or will the eldest Salvatore teach her a whole other way of life?

**Author's Note:** I've had this idea for a while, but I never pursued it. Now I am! And by the way, Danni looks like Lily Collins, and has red hair. Okay, I hope you like it!

**Enjoy!**

_ "MOM!" I screamed, coughing through the smoke. "DAD! Where are you?"_

_ I kept running through the house, trying to desperately dodge the flames that were dancing around my house._

_ "Charlene!" I shouted. I couldn't find my big sister. I had searched everywhere. And I couldn't find my little brother, Colin, no matter how many times I had screamed their names. _

_ Not noticing where I was walking, I had walked right through a puff of smoke. It went right into my lungs, and my chest suddenly felt like it was burning._

_ "Mom," I tried again, but the sound sounded ragged coming from my throat. "Dad," I say, and this time, it sounded even worse._

_ "Colin, Char," I say, barely a whisper this time. I wasn't looking where I was going, and I tripped right over something. I look over to see what I had tripped over, and scream when I see the dead body of my 12 year old brother._

_ Because of how deeply I inhaled to scream, I started a coughing fit. I wanted to call for my mother, for my father, but nothing was coming out. I was growing more and more dizzy as I began to lose consciousness._

_ Just as I decided to put my head down and give into my body's command, I looked up and saw the faint outline of a person. Although, it didn't look like a person. Their face didn't look human. Their eyes were red, they had veins popping up under their eyes._

_ But the most disturbing thing, was that they had fangs extended from their jaw, and blood was dripping from their chins._

_ My only regret was that I didn't get a better look at the person's face before I finally passed out..._

I jolt awake when the car bumped on a rather large pothole. I look over to my Uncle Roger, who hadn't noticed that I had fallen asleep on the way to his house from the airport.

"Aunt Alice is making your favourite, lasagna. She knows how much you liked it at the family dinner last year, so she thought that it'd be a good idea to make it for you today," He said animatedly.

I rub my eyes, trying to get the last bit of sleep from out of them. "That sounds great, Uncle Roger."

"The kids are really excited to see you too, Danni. I know that I've been saying it ever since I picked you up, but they were practically bouncing off the walls when I said that I was going to the airport to pick you up."

"That's really sweet. I'm excited to see them, too," I say. After my entire family died in a fire, my Uncle Roger, Aunt Alice, and their two sons, Rory, who was 8, and Isaac, who was 7, were the only family I had left. Aunt Alice also had another kid on the way, but they decided not to learn its gender until it's born, which should be a month or so. Well, they're my only family if you don't count my Aunt Alice's family. Her brother, Richard Lockwood, was the Mayor of Mystic Falls. He lived here with his wife (my Aunt Carol) and his son, my cousin Tyler. Tyler and I were never really close, but that was only because I didn't really see him all that often. Only a few times a year, at birthday parties, or family barbeques. We just never had much in common.

We remained quiet for the rest of the ride, and when Uncle Roger finally pulled up, Rory and Isaac came running right out, along with my very pregnant aunt.

"Danni!" Rory and Isaac screamed, running next to the car. I smiled as I got out of the car, and they ran right into my arms.

"Hey, you little rugrats," I say, giving them each a hug and a kiss on their foreheads. "How have you guys been?"

"Good!" They both said. "We've been waiting for you to come for forever!"

I gave a light laugh. "You only found out that I was coming a few weeks ago," I say. Aunt Alice comes up to me, and gives me a hug. "It's nice to see you, honey," She says, and I have to be careful of her stomach as I gave her a hug. She pulls away, and gives me a concerned look. "How have you been doing?"

I shrug. "Baby steps," I answer, and, to get out of anymore awkward questions, I went over to Uncle Roger to help him get my luggage out. Most of my stuff had been lost in the fire, but I had managed to scavenge up some stuff when I was allowed to go back to see it. I didn't have many clothes, but I bought what I could before I came, and Aunt Alice assured me that she'd buy me more clothes once I got here.

"Come inside Sweetie, Roger's got your lugagge," She said, and looked over to my Uncle. "Right Roger?"

He quickly nodded. "Of course."

I couldn't help but laugh. Either way, I grabbed a couple bags, so that Uncle Roger didn't have to make trips as Alice led me inside. She took me upstairs, and into the spare bedroom that they had. They had recently moved, because their previous home was too small to fit three children, and when they moved, their house came with an extra bedroom that they just decided to make a guest room. Little did they know that I would be inhabiting it for quite some time.

I looked around it, and saw that it was decorated to a 17 year old girl's liking. The plain white walls were painted lavender, and the eggshell curtains were replaced with light green, to go with the purple theme. In the middle of the room was a bed, and a side table was next to it. A dresser with a mirror was in the corner, and there was another dresser on the opposite side. There was also a private bathroom, to which I was thankful for. I wasn't about to share a bathroom with two boys who weren't even ten years old yet.

"Do you like it?" Aunt Alice asked, resting her hands on her stomach.

I nod. "Yeah. I hope you don't mind if I decorate it further..."

"Oh honey, of course not. Decorate it to your liking. It _is_ your room, after all," She reassures me. "I'm going to go finish dinner. You can start unpacking, freshen up. I'll take you shopping before you start school."

"Sounds like a plan," I tell her, and she smiles gently before leaving me to my thoughts.

The first thing that I did was take out my picture of my family at Char's most recent birthday, her twenteith. We were all smiling goofily, not knowing that in the next few months everything would change forever.

I sigh, then put it right on top of my dresser with the mirror. I took out some clothes, and started folding them. A few minutes after I start to, Uncle Roger comes in with the rest of my bags. "Thanks," I say to him, and put the rest of the bags on my bed.

As I started to unpack, Roger just stood in the doorway. I stopped, and looked over to him. "Yes?"

"I think you're gonna really like it here, Danni," He said, and I just rolled my eyes and started to unpack again. "Mystic Falls is a really nice town. It's really small, so pretty much everyone knows everyone around here. The high school is really good too. It's got a great education program, sports teams, photography clubs, you like that stuff, don't you?"

I shrug. "I guess," I say, putting a shirt in one of the drawers.

"This move will be good for you, you'll see," He says.

Finally, I turn around and face my uncle. "Look, Uncle Roger. I appreciate everything that you and Aunt Alice are doing. It's really sweet. But I'm only here because of my parent's Will. As soon as I turn eighteen, I'm gone. I want to find out what happened to my family."

"That again," Uncle Roger says gruffly. "Look Danni-Bear, I know you think that a-" he lowered his voice so that his family wouldn't hear it "-vampire killed your family, but the police say that it was a fire-"

"My family's autopsy reports say that. And Colin was already gone before the flames had a chance to reach him," I defend.

"But you don't know what the actual cause of death. The bodies were too burned," He said, and immediately seemed to regret his word choice as he saw me choke up. "Danielle, I'm sorry-"

"No," I say. "I'm fine. I have to get used to people saying it."

Roger gives me a sad look. "By the way, as long as we're talking about the supernatural, can you please keep the witchy powers to a minimum?" I actually manage to give a small smile, and Uncle Roger gives me one too. "You remember what happened last time."

"Hey, it wasn't _my_ fault that you let the barbeque's fire grow too high," I say with a smirk.

"Likely story," He said. "You nearly destroyed my barbeque." Then his laughter dies. "But I'm being serious, Danni. It's not like before, where you could use your magic whenever you wanted to. And finding out what really happened-or so you say-to your family can get dangerous if you're actually dealing with vampires. It's not just you and me anymore. I have a wife, I have two sons, and another kid on the way. I'd rather not endanger my family."

I give him a look. "Uncle Roger, you do realize that every second that they don't know about your true heritage, they're already in danger? What if Isaac starts showing the signs that I did when I was his age?"

"Then we'll deal with it. But we don't even know if he'll end up with the gene. The whole witch lineage is weird," He said. "Look, I don't want to discuss this. All I'm asking is that you please try and leave them out of this."

"I was never going to bring them in, Uncle Roger. I'm not stupid," I say.

He was about to say something, but Aunt Alice called, "Dinner's ready!"

Uncle Roger turns to me. "Dinner's ready. Let's go."

-0-

After dinner, I decide to take a walk to cool my head. Lucky for me, Aunt Alice and Uncle Roger had gotten a dog to see if they were ready to have kids, so I grabbed the golden retriever Jake's leash, and started walking.

Mystic Falls was just how I remembered it, although I didn't remember it all that well. The only places I ever saw when I came here every year was either my Uncle Roger's old home or my Uncle Richard's mansion. But once upon a time, I actually lived here with my parents and Charlene. We lived here till I was five, and that's when Colin was born. My Dad had gotten a job offer in Boston for a price that he couldn't refuse, so we packed our stuff and moved out to

Massachusetts. I've been there ever since, and my memories of Mystic Falls faded over time.

I did have a few friends here. Those few friends and I were pretty close, as far as five year old children's friendships went. I don't remember their names, but I do remember always being babysat by a young girl named Jenna Sommers. I remember her because she'd always let me watch whatever cartoon I wanted on TV.

As I started walking deeper into the woods, Jake's speed started to kick up. I had to jog to keep up with dog, and his paced started to pick up so fast that we were running. He suddenly stopped, and started barking. I fished the flashlight that my aunt had insisted that I take with me out of my sweatpockets, trying to figure out what the hell he was barking out. I found out the answer when I heard rustling behind me, and there was suddenly a vampire latched onto my neck.

I, of course, screamed, but then remembered that I was a witch. I instantly concentrated on the vampire behind me, and, soon enough, they were off of me, and was screaming in pain.

My hand instantly went to my neck, applying pressure to my wound. I whirled around to see my attacker. My jaw dropped open when I saw who was feeding off of my blood. I was so surprised that I stopped the assault on the vampire.

"_Damon_?" I asked in disbelief.

The Salvatore boy looked over to me, and he looked just as surprised as I did. "_Danielle James_?" He asked, and I nodded slowly.

"I forgot," He said, as he got up off the ground. "You come from the Celtic Druids."

I nod. "Yeah," Then go back to something more important. "What the hell are you doing here?" I asked as he straightened up fully.

"I could ask you the same thing," He says, wiping my blood off of his lips.

"I asked you first though," I say, and winced at the pain in my neck.

"Oh right," He said, and bit into his wrist. He held it out to me, but I literally staggered back from it.

"No thanks," I say. I knew that if I somehow died in the next twenty four hours, I'd end up as a vampire, and that was the last thing I needed.

"Come on, do you really want to go back to your family injured?" He asked.

I groan, but let him put his wrist to my lips. I let the metallic blood go down my throat, but instantly stopped when Damon said I could. I rubbed my tongue on my sleeve for good measure. "Like I was saying, why are you here?"

"I don't kiss and tell Danni," He said.

"Damon, I won't hesitate to do what I did last time to make you leave. I can do it in the blink of an eye..." I threaten. "I have family here. Family that I will protect with my life. So, why are you here?" I ask.

"You know, I could always compell you to forget that this ever happened," Damon said.

"No, you can't," I say, and hold up my wrist, where a bracelet sat. "Ever since Stefan gave me my vervain bracelet I've never taken it off, not once."

"Damn my brother," Damon mumbles under his breath. "Well, this is why..." He started, but then pointed behind me. "Oh look! The dog is running away!"

I turn around, only to see that Jake was still sitting next to me. I immediately turn around, and see that Damon was gone. I groan at my own stupidity. That was probably the stupidest thing that I've ever done in my life.

-0-

"Come here, honey," Aunt Carol said as she hugged me tight.

"Nice to see you too, Aunt Carol," I say, although I could barely breathe.

She immediately let go. "Oh honey, sorry. I'm just so glad to see that you're okay."

I nod, wrapping my arms around me. "As you can see, I'm fine," I say.

"Where's Danni-Bear?" A new voice says, and I turn around to see my Uncle Richard, Alice's brother.

"Over here, Uncle Richard," I say, and he comes over and gives me a hug.

"It's good to see you, Danni. How have you been?" He asks me, pulling away.

"As I keep trying to tell people, I'm fine," I say. "How have you been?" I ask.

"Fine. Where's Tyler?" He asks, looking around.

"Here," my cousin said as he came downstairs. "Danni! I see you haven't filled out."

"I see you have," I say, looking at Tyler. He's gotten bigger since I've last seen him. I give him a hug. "How have you been?" I asked him.

"Good. You?" He asks, pulling back.

"Just great," I say.

"So, Danni, there's a Bachelor auction going on at the Mystic Grill tonight, we were wondering if you wanted to come. Meet some people. I'm sure there should be some volunteer's your age there," Aunt Carol suggests.

I grimace. "Do I have to?"

"Yes," She immediately said, and Uncle Roger just laughs at me. I scowl, but let Aunt Carol quickly transform me into a simple blue dress.

"There," She said once she was done. "You look great."

"Yeah yeah, I'll draw every head in the room," I say, and walk downstairs. Not long after, we all went to the Grill. Everything was already set up. I walked inside, and saw a couple teenagers standing by the ticket booth.

"Oh my God, Danni?" I hear, and turn my head to see where the voice had come from. When I turn my head, I see that it's one of the girls that was by the ticket booth. She had olive skin, and deep brown eyes.

"How did you know my name?" I ask her, walking over to them.

"My aunt Jenna would always babysit you, and we used to be friends when we were like, five before you moved away," She explained, before sticking her hand out. "I'm Elena Gilbert."

Elena! That's right! "Oh my God, Elena! It's great to see you!" I say, and shake her hand. I turn to the other girl, the blonde, and cautiously say, "Caroline?"

She nods. "Yeah! It's good to see you again, Danni," She says, and hugs me. I look over to the boy, and think for a second before I sigh. "Sorry, I don't know your name."

He laughs. "That's okay. I'm Matt," He said, and we shook hands.

"Matt, Tyler's friend, right?" I ask, the memory coming back.

"Yeah," He said.

"So what brings you to Mystic Falls?" Elena asks.

I take a deep breath. I was gonna have to start telling people eventually. Might as well start now with people who apparently know me. "My family passed away, so I moved here to live with my Uncle, Roger Jones," I say, and look for him in the crowd. I find him, and he's standing with Aunt Alice. "Over there," I say.

Everyone immediately grows somber. "I'm so sorry," Matt says, and everyone nods in agreement

I nod. "Thanks. It's okay though, I've been learning how to deal with it."

"If it makes you feel any better, I know how you feel. I lost my parents last spring," Elena says.

"You know, I would say that I was sorry, but you seem as annoyed as I am that people keep saying it to you, because they have no idea what to really say," I tell her, and she nods in agreement. "So I'm just gonna say, I hope you're doing good."

Elena smiles. "I am, thanks. How about you? You taking it okay?"

I shrug. "Little by little," I say. I start to let my eyes wander around, and my eyes fall on Damon, who was talking with Aunt Carol. And dare I say, he looked awfully flirty. I roll my eyes, but forgot that I was actually with people when Elena asked me, "What's wrong?"

"A person I know is being a complete idiot," I say. Elena follows my gaze, and rolls her eyes too when they rest on Damon. She looks over to me in surprise, "You know Damon?"

"You know him too?" I ask, equally as surprised.

"Yeah, he's my boyfriend's brother," She explained. I couldn't help it. My jaw dropped right open.

"You're dating _Stefan Salvatore_?" I ask in disbelief.

"You know Stefan Salvatore?" She responds right back.

"Awkward," I hear Caroline say under her breath to Matt. I roll my eyes and go back to Elena. "Yeah, I used to go go to school with him for a bit, hang on," I wasn't about to say that I dated Stefan for a bit, that would not have helped at all. I grab Elena by the arm and pulled her off to the side. I had to know if she knew about him. "Do you know what Stefan really is?"

Her eyes widen. "You _do_?"

I shake my head, "No, I had a sort of...feeling," I say, trying not to reveal my magic.

"Do you mean, like a bad feeling? Like, bad mojo?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" I asked, fairly surprised that she knew the feeling.

"Because my friend Bonnie felt the exact same way about him," She leaned forward a little and whispered the next part, "And she's a witch."

Busted without even saying anything. "Bonnie and I have a lot in common, then," I say. "What's going on? Why are Stefan and Damon here?"

Elena hesitates, and I roll my eyes. "Oh come on! I already know that they're vampires, how much worse could it be?"

Elena just shakes her head. "Listen, we have to go inside. The auction is starting soon," She says, and starts walking to the tables.

"Wait, Elena!" I say, grabbing her arm. "If they're here because of a vampire problem, then I want to know about it," I say.

"Why?" She asked, getting her arm away from me. I want to tell her, but I guess I'm holding back for the same reason she is: She's worried about what'll happen.

"Look Danni, I gotta go," She says, and then she's just gone. I groan, then go looking for my Uncle. As I was looking for him, I didn't notice where I was walking, so I bumped right into someone. "Oh sorry," I say, then actually look over and see who it was. "Stefan?" I says.

"Danni?" He asked. "What're you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. Last time I saw you last year, you said that you had some stuff to take care of and that you'd tell me as soon as you were done," I say.

"And I was going to," Stefan started.

"Then what stopped you?" I ask, but I don't get to hear his response because the auction had started. We both look over to the stage thing, and Stefan grabbed my hand so that we're walking closer. My breath stops when I see Damon on the stage. Okay, even I can't lie: Damon looks really attractive in a suit.

"And what do you do, Bachelor Number 3?" Aunt Carol asks him.

"Yeah, I'm a plumber," He said. Wow, way to be attractive, Bachelor number 3.

"Well, isn't that wonderful? We could always use more plumbers," Carol said, a smile plastered on her face. "Moving on. Number 4," She said, moving over to the next man. "'Alaric Saltzman.' Wow. That's quite a mouthful. What do you do, Alaric?"

"I'm a teacher at Mystic Falls High," Alaric said.

"Oh, beauty_ and _brains, ladies. This one's a keeper. What do you teach?" Carol asks him.

"History."

"History. Oh, well, give us a fun fact about Mystic Falls, something crazy."

Alaric happens to look over to Damon, who places his hand up to his ear, sarcastically anticipating a response. I can't help but roll my eyes at him. He acted the exact same way when he was dating my sister. But then again, they only dated for a few weeks.

"Uh, well..." Alaric stammers, and Aunt Carol brings the microphone away. "He's probably saving the best stories for his date," Carol suggest, and moves down the line. "And last, but not least, Damon Salvatore. We don't have much on you."

"Well, I'm tough to fit on a card," He said, trying to be charming. His eyes lock with mine, but I just give him the best 'Seriously?' look with my eye as I can.

"Do you have any hobbies, like to travel?" Aunt Carol asks.

"Oh, yeah. L.A., New York. Couple of years ago, I was in North Carolina. Near the Duke campus, actually. I think—I think Alaric went to school there," He said, and I furrowed my eyebrows as he looks over to Alaric. "Didn't you, Ric?"

Ric looks over to Damon as he says, "Yeah, 'cause I- I know your wife did."

I look over to Stefan. "What's he doing?" I ask him, but Stefan doesn't answer, just keeps his eyes glued to the front. He looks over to Elena, and I follow his gaze. Elena's face starts to falter, so Stefan starts making his way over to her. I groaned, but followed him. I managed to watch the front as I followed Stefan.

"I had a drink with her once. She was—she was a great girl. I ever tell you that? Cause she was - Delicious," Damon said that last part, with that weird double meaning of his. Realization dawns on me as he says, "Mmm! Mmm mmm mmm," As if implying that he had _eaten _Alaric Saltzman's wife.

By the time Stefan and I had gotten to Elena, she had brushed right past us. "What's her problem?" I ask him.

Stefan looks over to me as we continue after her. "Alaric Saltzman's wife is Elena's birthmother."

"What?" I ask, flabbergasted. Elena was adopted? How was that possible? I mean, I guess it could be, but whenever I saw Elena with her mother Miranda, you just assumed that she was her real mother. It was the same sort of love my parents showed me.

"He killed her? Damon was the vampire that killed her?" Elena blurted, not even caring that I was standing there as she paced.

I grabbed her by the arms, stopping her from moving. "Elena, calm down," I say, and she stops pacing.

"I don't know what happened. Alaric said that they never found the body," Stefan said.

"Oh, my god. Stefan," Elena whispered.

"I know. I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you. But I just—I wanted to know more," Stefan tried to explain to her.

"I was feeling sorry for him, hoping that this whole Katherine thing would change him. I'm so stupid," Elena said.

I scrunch my eyebrows. "Who's Katherine?" I ask.

"I'll explain later," Stefan told me, then turned back to Elena. "He doesn't know about the connection to you. I thought about confronting him, but he's already so on edge."

"Why are you protecting him?" Elena questioned.

"To be honest, I was wondering the same thing," I say. "From what I remember, you two hated each other."

"Because you're not the only one hoping that he might actually change," Stefan said.

Damon? Changing? Those words were weird in the same sentence.

Without warning, Elena just stalked off. Stefan and I looked to each other before going after her. We found Elena, standing with Damon. Oh, this cannot end well.

Damon looked from me, to Stefan, to Elena. "Am I missing something here?"

"Did I forget to mention earlier when we were talking about my birth mother? The one that gave me up?" Elena asked him.

Damon nods, and Elena says, "Her name was Isobel."

As soon as the words left Elena's lips, Damon's face falters.

"Go ahead. Reminisce about how you killed her," Elena said, and rammed Damon in the shoulder as she walks off. The three of us exchange looks, and Stefan leaves to follow Elena. Leaving just me and Damon.

"What's going on with you, Damon? I think I need an explaination," I say, crossing my arms.

"You don't need anything," Damon said, before he stalked off.

"Hey, wait!" I say, about to follow him, but a lot of people came in my way. Beside them were Uncle Roger and Aunt Alice.

"Danni, you remember Janet, don't you?" Roger asks, and I'm too busy making sure that I don't lose Damon that Roger has to repeat the question.

"What? Oh yeah, no I don't. Excuse me," I say, and push past everyone. Once I'm out in the open, I can't see Damon anywhere, which meant that he's gone. I huff, then turn around to find someone. I run over to Aunt Carol, and quickly ask, "Where does Damon Salvatore live?" I ask her.

"The old Salvatore Boarding house, why?" She answers.

The Salvatore Boarding house. How dense can I get?

I don't answer her, just run after Damon. I know that the only person I'm likely to get answers from is Damon, if I push hard enough. And by push, I mean torture, if necessary.

I quickly borrow Roger's car, and drive over to the Boarding house with the directions Liz Forbes gave me. I run in, just to see Damon stabbing Alaric Saltzman.

My mouth opens in surprise, and it's after Damon says, "Ah, this is a shame. We're kindred spirits, abandoned by the women we love. Unrequited love sucks," that I spring into action. Quickly using the same trick as before, I give Damon the same aneurysm that I had given him before.

Damon lets go of the stake in surprise, grabbing the sides of his head. He turns to the doorway, and sees me. "Oh, great," He manages to get out.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I ask as I run over to Alaric. I stop giving him the headache, and he grabs the stake sticking out in Alaric's chest before yanking it out.

I gasp in surprise, before giving Damon the aneurysm again. He screams in pain, "Stop doing that!"

"Then stop killing people!" I say, but I do stop as I turn to Alaric's body. I quickly check him for a pulse as Damon sits on the couch, drinking from a glass of alcohol.

Stefan runs in not that long after. "What happened?" He asked, falling down next to me.

"There-there's no pulse, Stefan," I say.

He turns to Damon. "What did you do?"

"Do what? He attacked me."

Stefan and I both turn our heads to look at the eldest Salvatore. "Damon," We both say.

"All I did was tell him the truth. His wife didn't want him anymore. It's not my fault he couldn't handle it," Damon said, and I give him a quick dose of the headache.

"What was that one for?" He asks, rubbing his head.

"For being an asshole," I say.

"Like you've been handling Katherine?" Stefan asks.

I growl. "Who the hell is Katherine?! Will someone please tell me?"

"Elena's her doppelganger," Stefan answered.

"Her what?" I say, at a loss for words. I've heard of doppelgangers when I was doing my witch studying, but I've never actually heard of one in existence.

"I'm handling it fine," Damon insisted. "You know what? Isobel came to me. She found me. And if she's related to Elena, that means she's related to Katherine. Maybe Katherine sent her to me."

"Stop it. You don't have to keep looking," Stefan said.

"Can't be a coincidence Isobel sought me out," Damon said, before pointing at Alaric's dead body. "I'm assuming you'll take care of this," he said, standing up. He turns to me. "Danni, a pleasure as always," He said, then left.

We both watch him leave, then I turn to Stefan. "How much happened after you two left Boston?"

Stefan looked like he was about to say something, but stops, looking at Alaric's body. I look over too, and I see Alaric's finger twitch. Confused, I lean over him to see what actually happened. Suddenly, Alaric gasps, panting heavily. I lean back from his body, practically crashing into the couch.

He sits up. "What happened? What's going on?" He asked, perplexed.

"You were just... Did Damon turn you?" I ask him. There was no way Alaric should be alive. No way at all.

"No. I - I went for him and then he, uh- he stabbed me."

"No, no, no. You must have vampire blood in your system. Somebody slipped it to you," Stefan tried to think.

Alaric flexes his fingers, and I look down to his hands. "No. It's, uh, it's something else."

"What?" I ask, and Alaric said one word.

"Isobel."

Okay, someone really needs to explain to me what the hell was going on before I lose it.

**TBC...**

**Whew, long first chapter!**

**Let me know what you think of it!**

**Danni's outfits will be on Polyvore!**

**REVIEW! THANKS! STAY TUNED!**


	2. Don't Forget

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Vampire Diaries. I do own my OC, Danielle "Danni" James, and any other characters I make up!

**Author's note:** Hey ho guys! I'm so happy with the response I've been getting! I never thought that it'd be this popular! The parts in _italics_ this time are flashbacks, not actual memories. Anyways, here's more!

Thank you to Damon's Charlene, grapejuice101, ddluzelle, Riana Salvatore, Guest 1, Guest 2, and WriteToEscapeReality1309 for the amazing reviews last chapter!

**Enjoy!**

_ I watched as the bodies of my entire family was lowered into the ground. At first, it all felt like a dream. Nothing had sunk in. My family no longer living hadn't sunk in._

_ Later, I was standing in the funeral hall, and person after person were telling me how sorry they were for my loss, and how it was a miracle that I was still alive. But I wasn't paying attention to what they were saying. It was all still too raw. I'd go with my family's lawyer after the funeral and cry in private. If I was going to mourn, I was going to mourn in private._

_ I couldn't help but think that I probably would have been dealing with it better if my boyfriend, Stefan Salvatore, were there._

_ Sorry, my EX-boyfriend. I honestly didn't know where we stood on the relationship front, but ever since he left Boston to run his "errands" I hadn't seen him. Not until I had returned to Mystic Falls._

_ I was listening to one of my father's coworker's ramble on about how great my Dad was, when I decided that I didn't want to listen to anything anymore. I had quickly excused myself, and ran into the bathroom at the funeral hall._

_ I looked in the mirror, and I only saw what everyone else saw: A poor orphan girl who lost her family in a fire. How damaged she was supposed to be._

_ That's when I decided that no matter what I did, I had to prove that you didn't have to walk on eggshells around me. That you could talk about what happened with my family to me, that I wasn't glass. I wasn't going to break after applying pressure._

_ I felt myself start to cry, so I quickly wet a paper towel and started wiping away my tears gently. There goes the whole "being strong" plan._

_ I walk back out, and run right smack into someone. "Sorry," I mumble, not even looking at the person. _

_ "No, I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going," The person responded, and I turned to see that it was a friend of Char's, Katherine._

_ "Oh, Katherine, hey," I say distractedly._

_ "Hey, Danni. I wanted to say that I was sorry about what happened to your family, especially Char. We were good friends. You're really strong for going through something like this," Katherine said, and it actually sounded like she could empathize with me._

_ "Thanks, Kat. But I really just wanna go back into the bathroom and just live there for a few years," I confess._

_ "Look, you'll achieve nothing like that. Just go out and put on a brave face," Katherine said._

_ I take a deep breath, and nod. "You're right."_

_ She grins devilishly. "Of course I am. So are you going to be staying in Boston?"_

_ I shake my head. "My family's lawyer have been planning for me to go and stay with my mother's brother, Roger Jones."_

_ "Oh. Where does your uncle live?"_

_ "Mystic Falls, Virginia," I answer._

_ She looks like she's surprised, but she covers it up very quickly. "Mystic Falls?"_

_ I nod. "Yep. I used to live there, but then we moved. I guess it's sort of symbolic how I'm going back. Uncle Roger also insists that I don't stay anywhere else."_

_ Katherine quickly nods. "Right. But I can't have you running around Mystic Falls knowing who I am," she says, putting a finger to her lips._

_ I furrow my eyebrows. "What are you talking about, Katherine?"_

_ She grabs me by the arms with her vampire strength. "I'm gonna miss you, Danni. You were a decent friend," She says, then looks straight into my eyes before her pupils dilate. "You're gonna forget who I am," She started, and I felt my memories of the times I met Katherine begin to fade away._

_ "I will forget who you are," I repeat._

_ "You won't remember who I am, or anything that we did," She said._

_ "I won't remember who you are, or anything that we did," I repeated._

_ "And you're gonna forget what happened after you left the bathroom, and go back to the main area."_

_ I repeated that too, and then I blunk. I looked around, and felt a little odd. Why was I here?_

_ I looked left and right, and just shrugged before I made my way back to where everyone was._

-0-

I woke up the next morning to my alarm. I quickly hit the snooze button, and rolled over in bed. I hadn't gotten home until late last night, mainly because I was freaked out from watching Alaric Saltzman come back from the dead.

I wanted to stay with Stefan and question Alaric, but Stefan had insisted that I go home. I couldn't get him to change his mind (no matter how hard I tried), so I went home, and nearly went crazy at how Alaric was still alive.

I got out of bed, quickly showered and changed, and pulled myself downstairs and into the kitchen.

I was immediately greeted by Rory and Isaac. "Morning, Danni!" They beamed.

I manage to give them a smile. "Morning guys," I say, and grab the Cheerios from in the cabinet, along with a bowl and some milk.

"Lunch money?" Aunt Alice asked me from her spot in front of the counter. She was making the boys' lunch as she asked me, guesting to her purse.

I nod, "Sure, thanks," I say, and she hands me a bill. I take it and put it in my backpack.

Uncle Roger comes downstairs, and kisses my aunt. "Morning, guys," He quickly grabs his cup of coffee that his wife had made him, and turned to me. "As soon as we're done breakfast, I'm gonna drop you off at school on my way to work, okay Danni?"

"Okay," I say through bites. To be honest, I wasn't all that excited to go back to school. School and I didn't get along very well, and since Stefan was going to be there, well, let's just say school was looking less appealing by the second.

Uncle Roger drove me to school, and told me to have a good day. Yeah, like that'll happen.

The first thing that happens is Elena finds me. "Hey, Danni, I wanted to apologize for acting so weird the other night. I said a lot of personal stuff and I was all weird and I hope that you don't think I'm crazy."

I lift a shoulder. "I'm a witch. You can't get crazier than that."

Elena laughs. "You're right. I think you'd get along really well with Bonnie."

"Is she here today?" I ask her.

She shakes her head. "Her grandmother recently passed away, so she's staying with her aunt right now."

"Oh," I say. Did everyone in Mystic Falls have at least one dead relative? "Well, it was nice catching up with you. I should get to class."

"Do you want me to show you around anywhere?" Elena offered.

I quickly shook my head. "I'm good, but thanks," I say, and quickly leave.

I manage to get through the morning, and I'm walking to my first afternoon class when I hear footsteps behind me. I look back, but roll my eyes when I see who it was, and picked my pace up.

"Look, can't we just talk?"

"No Stefan, we can't. You lost the opportunity to talk when you left without giving an explaination."

"I know I left without telling you why, and I'm sorry, but-"

I turn abruptly to face him and stop walking. "Sorry doesn't cut it Stefan. You left when I needed you the most. And before you ask, yeah, I'm over it. Just leave me alone, will you?" I say, then leave without letting him say anything back.

After school, I went right home. Aunt Alice said that she was taking the boys to the Grill for a treat, and said that I was welcome to tag along. I was about to decline the offer, but my cousins started making such a huge deal out of how fun it would be if I came, so I caved in. I couldn't say no to those little faces.

The four of us sat down at a table, and someone came over to take our order. "Hey, Danni, right?"

I looked over to the waiter, and saw that it was Matt, the boy from the auction. "Oh, yeah. Hi Matt."

Aunt Alice got all excited. "Ooh, are you one of Danni's little friends?"

"Alice!" I say, mortified. I didn't even know Matt all that well!

Matt just smiles and nods. "Yeah, I am. What can I get for you guys?"

We quickly placed our orders, and I excused myself to go to the bathroom. When I got back, I groaned to myself when I saw Stefan sitting at our table, talking animatedly with the boys.

Reluctantly, I made my way over to the table. Alice looks over, and smiles. "We keep running into your friends! Stefan says that he knew you when you lived in Boston!"

I grit my teeth, making sure that I sit in the middle of Rory and Alice. "We did. He was a friend of mine."

Isaac turns to me. "Danni! Stefan was telling us about this awesome car that he has!"

"Was he now?" I ask.

Rory nods. "He said that we could go see it whenever we wanted to."

I look over to Stefan. "Did he now?" I ask, a little suspicious.

Stefan nods. "Yeah, the boys seemed really interested in it."

I turn to them. "Since when were you two interested in cars?"

"Since Stefan started talking about them," Isaac answers, and Rory nods in agreement.

A phone buzzes, and Stefan reaches into his pocket for his phone. He quickly looks at it, then looks at us. "Sorry, I gotta go. It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Jones," He said to Alice.

She blushes lightly. "Oh, just Alice."

"Right, then, Alice," Stefan says, then turns to my cousins. "I'll see you boys later."

They nod eagerly, and Stefan gives me a quick goodbye before getting up and leaving. But it turned out, he wasn't even leaving the Mystic Grill. My eyes followed him, and it turns out, Elena was there.

I roll my eyes. Of course. I turn to my family. "Listen guys, I have to go to. It's halfway through the school year and I really have to get caught up," I say, standing up. I grab my purse, and quickly leave.

I didn't even have a car, so I had to start the long walk from the Grill back to Uncle Roger's house. A good five minutes after I start walking, a car drives past me, but slows down so that they stop beside me. I look over to who was in the car, and rolled my eyes when I saw who it was.

"What do you want, Damon?" I ask him, not even looking at him.

"A young lady like yourself shouldn't be walking by herself," he said.

"Careful Damon, your 1864 is showing," I say sarcastically.

"Ha-ha, very funny. Get in the car."

"I think I'm okay. Go pick up another girl and waste her time. Chances are she'll actually go to bed with you," I say, then shake my head. "Poor girl."

"Danni, get in the car," He repeated.

Damn it, this guy wasn't going to stop, was he? I growl, but stop walking. "Fine. As long as it'll get you off of my back," I say, and walk over to the passenger's side when he stopped the car.

"That's my girl," Damon said, starting to drive as soon as I was in the car.

"No, don't, don't call me that," I say, then look right ahead.

Damon attempted conversation with me, but I didn't pay any attention to him. When he pulled into my driveway, I was surprised to see Uncle Roger's car there. He must be home early from work.

Also to my surprise, when I got out of the car, Damon got out too. "Don't tell me you're gonna be all gentlemany and escort me to my front door, are you?"

"Can't I be all 'gentlemany' for once?"

"It's not encoded in your DNA," I say, walking up to the front door. I reached into my bag, and cursed when I realized I forgot my key in the house. I knock on the door, and Uncle Roger answers it. He smiles when he sees me, and smiles even bigger when he sees Damon. "Damon! It's good to see you!"

"You too, Roger," Damon said, shaking my Uncle's hand.

Hold up. Roger? Why was Damon on first name basis with my Uncle?

Roger looks from me to Damon. "You two know each other?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Uncle Roger," I respond.

"City stuff, not important," Uncle Roger said, waving it away. "What about you two?"

"If you must know Roger, I know Danni, because we are-" Damon wrapped an arm around me. "Dating."

"Dating?!" Uncle Roger and I exclaimed at the same time.

Damon kissed the side of my forehead. "We were going to have to tell him eventually."

I ducked out from under his arm. "Yeah, and someone was going to have to tell you that you were crazy eventually," I say, starting to walk into the house.

"I'll see you later, honey!" Damon called behind me, and I groan, stomping up the stairs.

I throw my bag on the floor, and flop on my bed. I look over to my dresser, where a picture of me and my family sat. Some pictures were actually saved in the fire, and I was lucky that I had forgotten my laptop at a friend's house the night of the fire, because all of my family pictures were on there too. So I went and got all of them re-developed. My Dad would have said that, 'He knew it was a good idea to transfer them all onto the computer'.

I smile, thinking of my father. I look over at my phone, and see that I had a lot of voicemails and texts from my friends. Well, they were mainly from Stefan.

I pushed the phone away, and focused on my homework. After dinner, I finally checked the messages, and after listening to the fiftieth (okay so that's probably an exaggeration), I decided to just hear Stefan out. As soon as I do, I can finally go back to ignoring him in peace.

I go into the living room to ask Uncle Roger to borrow his car. When he asked me where I was going, I thought of lying, but I just told him the truth. "The Salvatore boarding house."

Roger drops his eyebrows. "Salvatore? As in Damon?"

I groan. "Uncle Roger, you didn't actually believe Damon today, did you?"

Alice slaps him on the chest while still looking at the TV. "Just give her the keys, Roger."

Uncle Roger grunts, but tells me his keys are on the mantle. I grab them, then drive over to the boarding house. It was unlocked when I got in, and as soon as I did, I heard grunts and yells coming from the living room.

"Damon? Stefan?" I call, running into the living room. When I get there, I see Damon being pinned to the wall by a vampire, and Stefan facing off against the other.

I look over to Stefan, and, letting the pressure course through me, released it onto the vampire that was attacking him. Soon enough, she started screaming, putting her hands to the side of her head. Stefan stakes her, and the other vampire manages to run away.

"What the hell happened?" I ask, running over to Stefan. I yank the glass shard out of his stomach, and he groaned. "Are you okay?" I ask Stefan.

"I'm fine," He answered.

Damon lifted his hand. "I'm fine too, thanks for asking."

I roll my eyes at him as Stefan said, "I remember those vampires from 1864. They were in the tomb."

Damon lift his hand and scratches his head. "Yeah... About that," he started.

I sigh. "Every word out of your mouth is just disappointment, isn't it?"

__-0-

_When Stefan had heard that the James' family had died in a fire, he immediately raced back to Boston to see if Danni was still alive. Screw Damon. He knew he left to protect her, but he just had to know if him leaving had actually protected her, or if he had signed her death warrant._

_ Stefan was intensely relieved when he had found out that Danni was still alive. He had managed to get a suit and tie, and compelled one of the funeral ushers that he was on the guest list. He knew it would be a bad idea to go right up to Danni, since he was supposed to be "taking care of something", so he had kept a safe distance away from her. _

_ During the service, he had politely stood in the back as person by person had spoken about how good people the James family was. When Danni had gone up to talk, she couldn't do it. He noticed that her eyes kept searching the crowd, and it didn't take long for Stefan to realize that it was him she was looking for. Something that she knew was stable, so she could stay stable._

_ She got through the first sentence, and she couldn't do it. The strong, hard willed facade that Danielle James had put on had cracked._

_ Stefan knew it wasn't wise to stay for so long, so during the service he had planned to leave as soon as it was over. He knew the James family. He had known their ancestors too. He was friends with them._

_ Stefan felt a presence beside him, and he didn't even have to look over to know who it was. "What are you doing here?" Stefan whispered._

_ His brother smirked before whispering back. "Isn't it obvious? I've come to pay my respects."_

_ "You can't pay it if you don't have any," Stefan said quietly._

_ "Ouch Stefan, consider me wounded," Damon said. "If you remember, I was dating the eldest James."_

_ "How could I forget? You're the reason I had to leave Danni."_

_ "Actually, she found out that I was a vampire, and threatened me to leave, which I did."_

_ "After I did," Stefan said, finally looking over to Damon. He shakes his head. "It doesn't matter. After today, I'm never going to see Danni again. She's gone through too much to have us dragged into it."_

_ Damon gently clicked his tongue. "You should never say never, Stefan. Listen to Justin Bieber for once," Damon joked. _

_ Stefan rolled his eyes at his brother. The service ended not long after that, and when Stefan looked over, Damon was gone. Stefan took that as a sign that he should leave too. He took one last, long look at Danielle Kristen James, and left, intending to stay out of her life._

_ But like Damon said, never say never._

_-0-_

_ Danni had needed space. She had always hated when people crowded her, so she went to the front of the funeral home, and sat right down on the front steps, not even caring if she got the dress dirty. She had no mother to scold her for it._

_ Not long after Danni had sat down, someone had sat down next her. She looked over, and gently smiled when she saw who it was. "Hi."_

_ "Hey. How you holding up?" Damon asked her._

_ She shrugs. "Okay, I guess," She sniffles. "I haven't cried yet. I think that's a good thing."_

_ "It's okay to cry sometimes," Damon said, thinking of his own mother's passing._

_ She shakes her head. "Sometimes it isn't. I'd rather mourn my family in private."_

_ Damon leans a little closer to her before asking his next question, "Then what's the point of a public funeral."_

_ Danni gently scoffs. "So people can tell me how great of a person my father was, or what a gentle soul my mother was. Some people mean it. You can tell when people are being genuine. And then there are some people who don't even care that this girl is all alone in the world. They just care about being considered sympathetic. It's amazingly stupid."_

_ "Hey, you're not all alone," Damon said, nudging Danni with his shoulder. "You got me."_

_ She lightly laughs, and Damon smiles at bringing Danni brightness on a dark day in her life. "Thanks for coming. It really does mean a lot to me."_

_ "No problem," Damon said._

_ Danni fiddles with the bottom of her black dress. "Stefan didn't come, eh?"_

_ Damon shakes his head. "I'm sorry. I didn't see him." He could see the disappointment on her face, and tried desperately to get her smile back. "If I were him, I'd be right at your side," Damon said, gently putting his hand ontop of hers._

_ Danni looks from her hand, back to Damon. "And you are here. You didn't have to be. Again, I appreciate it a lot."_

_ She suddenly looks behind her, back at the front doors. "We should probably get back in."_

_ Damon nods. "You're right," He stands up, and offers her a hand. She takes it, and stands up. She starts walking towards the funeral home, but was stopped when Damon called her name. "Danni?"_

_ She has just enough time to turn around and say, "Yeah?" Before Damon's lips were attached to hers._

_ Danni had no idea why he was doing it, all she knew was that the pressure of Damon's lips on hers made her feel safe. It felt familiar, but totally new._

_ After maybe a minute, she slowly pulls away, and they lean their foreheads on each others. Both of them had their eyes closed._

_ "What was_ that?_" She asked Damon._

_ He shrugs, but she can't see it. "I don't know."_

_ Damon suddenly pulls away from her forehead, and she opens her eyes. "But I _do_ know that I can't have you remembering it."_

_ She was about to question what he meant, when he grabbed either side of her face. "I'm really going to regret this, but you're going to forget that kiss. You're also going to forget that I was ever here."_

_ She repeated those words, and when she blunk, she was suddenly by herself. But she wasn't empty handed. Danni looked down, and saw that she was holding a small box. She takes the lid off of it, and inside is a beautiful bracelet. Underneath the bracelet was a note, and she took it out. On it read:_

Dear Danni,

You might not see me for a while, but I want you to have this bracelet. It has vervain in it, so it'll protect you from vampire compulsion. Always wear it, and I'll also protect you.

Stefan

_ Danni was a bit confused as to how she recieved the present in the first place, but since it was Stefan, she trusted him wholeheartedly. She quickly slipped it on, and her attention was called back inside._

_ She didn't examine the note well enough to notice that it wasn't the natural handwriting of Stefan, but rather the perfectly copied writing of Damon Salvatore._

**TBC...**

**Compelled at the beginning of the chapter, and compelled at the end.**

**Just to add, the compulsion with Katherine happened **_**before**_** Danni had gotten the vervain bracelet from Stefan (aka Damon).**

**I know, not that much episode stuff in it, but I think that's a good thing.**

_**Review responses:**_

_** Damon's Charlene:**_** Why thank you! I am loving this storyline right now too!**

_** grapejuice101:**_** Thank you! I can't wait to write more chapters!**

_** ddluzelle:**_** Thank you so much! Here's the update!**

_** Riana Salvatore:**_** Technically her cousins could be werewolves.**

_**Guest 1:**_** THANK YOU SO MUCH I ONLY WISHED THAT I KNEW YOUR USERNAME SO THAT I COULD THANK YOU PROPERLY**

_** Guest 2: **_**We'll see! ;)**

_** WriteToEscapeReality1309: **_**I have the best timing, don't I? LOL. Thanks so much! **

**Danni's outfits on Polyvore!**

**REVIEW! THANKS! STAY TUNED!**


	3. Friend Like Me

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Vampire Diaries. I do own my OC, Danielle "Danni" James, and any other characters I make up!

**Author's note:** Wow, I am really surprised with the response I've been getting to this story. I got ten reviews last chapter. TEN! I feel so lucky when I can even get like three! Anyways, here's more!

Thank you to Damon's Charlene, grapejuice101, ddluzelle, Riana Salvatore, TeamComrade11, VampireSa5m1993, Ruby, hayden, Guest, and WriteToEscapeReality1309 for the amazing reviews last chapter!

**Enjoy!**

I tried concentrating on my homework, I really did. But it was insanely hard with the knowledge that the vampires that were supposed to be locked in a tomb were running around, doing God knows what.

That, and a really bad storm had hit Mystic Falls. The violent sound of raindrops over the roof was extremely distracting.

I hear a hard bang on my window, and furrow my eyebrows as I turn around. I dismiss it when I don't hear anything else. As soon as I turned around, I heard it again. I ignore it again.

This time, my phone rings. I look over to it, and furrow my eyebrows when it says 'Private Number'. I answer it cautiously. "Hello?"

"Go to your window," A voice spoke into the phone. I couldn't hear them that well through the static of my phone caused by the storm.

"I'm sorry, who is this?" I ask.

"Go to your window," I hear again.

This time, I get off of my bed, and go over to the window. I look outside, and who do I see but Damon Salvatore.

I open it, hanging up my phone and throwing it on my bed. "What are you doing? It's raining!"

"I can see that!" He called up. "Come down!"

I roll my eyes, but close my window to see what he wanted. I open my door, check to make sure that the boys are in their room, Alice was still taking her nap, and Uncle Roger was in his study. Then I quickly tip toed downstairs, and to the front door. I opened it, and Damon was standing at the door.

"Invite me in," Damon said, rain hitting his umbrella hard.

"What," I say, leaning on the doorframe. "You mean even though you're all buddy-buddy with my Uncle, you've never been invited into his house?" I ask, fake surprise dripping heavily in my voice.

Damon gives me a look. "Just let me in, Danni."

I tap my chin. "You should do something for me first. Say I'm cooler than you."

"Oh, come on, what are we, five?" Damon asked.

"Then you can stand there under a flimsy umbrella," I say.

"Oh, I don't have time for this," Damon said, and grabbed me by the wrist. He pulled me outside, and under his umbrella. Then, he shut the door.

"Hey!" I protest, and try the doorknob. It was locked. Ugh.

I turn back to Damon. "And what is so important that you had to lock me out of my own house?"

"Stefan's been kidnapped," Damon said, getting right to it.

My stomach drops. "What? What happened?"

"I don't know, Danielle, that is what I'm going to figure out after I rescue him," Damon said, sounding a little annoyed.

"_You're_ rescuing _Stefan_?" I ask suspiciously. I cross my arms. "Did Elena put you up to this?"

He shakes his head, and I raise my eyebrows in surprise. "Anyone else?"

He shakes his head again. "So you're _actually _doing something nice for Stefan?"

"Don't be too surprised, Danni," Damon said sarcastically.

"So where do I fit in all this?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure he was kidnapped by the tomb vampires, and I might need a witch on hand," He explained.

"Nice to know that's what I'm good for," I say sarcastically.

Damon claps his hands together. "Great! Glad we're on the same page, now let's go," He said, grabbing my hand to lead me to his car.

I wretch myself from him. "Wait a second! I can't just leave my house without telling anybody."

Damon shrugs. "Why not?"

"Because unlike _you_, I have people who care about my wellbeing," I say.

He reaches into his pocket and tosses me his phone. "Call them on the way. Now let's _go,_" He said, grabbing me by the arm and leading me to his car.

I groan, and shrug out of his grip. But this time I follow him to the car. When I get close enough, I see Elena in the car. "You called her too?"

"She's Stefan's girlfriend," Damon said with a shrug.

I was going to say something snarky, but I kept it in. I got into the backseat of his car as he got into the front. "Now what exactly is your plan?" I ask Damon as he starts driving.

"Get in, kill the vampires, save Stefan. There's not really a lot to it," Damon answered.

"Gee Damon, what a foolproof plan," I say with a fake smile.

"I know right?" Damon said, and pulled up to a house where I'm assuming the tomb vampires were staying. He turned to Elena and me. "Stay in the car."

We're both about to protest when he says, "I mean it, stay."

"We're not dogs, Damon," I say, but he ignores me, getting out of the car.

I wait in the car for a few seconds before I unbuckle my seatbelt. Elena hears the sound and turns around. "What are you doing? He said to stay in the car."

"Oh Elena, you have much to learn about me if you think I'm going to listen to anything that Damon says," I say, and open the door, ignoring her protests. I'm already soaking by the time I catch up with him. I couldn't even grab a coat or anything, so I was soaked to the bone even worse.

Damon hears my footsteps, turns around and stops walking when he sees that it's me."I thought I said for you to stay in the car," He said angrily.

"You are seriously delusional if you think that I'm going to listen to you," I say. "Now come on, we're wasting time."

I know Damon wants to send me back to the car, but he has to ignore it because he knew I was right. We start walking again, and I say, "Remember to be polite. We don't wanna piss them off."

"Right," Damon said, knocking on the door. "Pearl! Open this door. I swear to God I'll bust through and rip your head off."

"Yeah, that's being polite," I say, wrapping my arms around me in an effort to make me warm.

A man opens the door. "Pearl's not home. Hmm," He said, looking up at the sky. "Beautiful weather. Not a ray of sun in the sky."

"Where's my brother?" Damon asks.

"Billy," the vampire calls behind him, and two vampires drag Stefan into the hallway.

"Stefan," I whisper. He looked drained, and one of the vampires had a stake in his hand.

Damon only needs one look at Stefan before his anger flares. "You're dead," He said, and charges at the door. One problem with that plan, though.

Damon basically ricohets off of the doorway. "Whoa. I'm sorry. You haven't been invited in," The vampire said, and turned behind him. "Miss Gibbons?"

Miss Gibbons, a woman in her forties, walks over. "Yes, Frederick, honey?"

Frederick grins evilly. He turns around, and begins compelling the woman. "Never let this bad man in."

He pupils dilate as the compulsion sets in. "I'll never let him in." She smiles, and walks away as Frederick turns to us.

"145 years left starving in a tomb, thanks to Katherine's infatuation with you and your brother. First few weeks, every single nerve in your body screams with fire. The kind of pain that can drive a person mad. Well... I thought your brother might want to get a taste of that before I killed him," Frederick said, and moves out of the doorway, giving Damon and me a clear view of Stefan. "Billy."

At his name, Billy stabs Stefan in the stomach with a stake. I gasp, and Stefan screams at the pain, falling to his knees.

"Stefan, no!" I scream, and move to run into the house. Before I can, Damon grabs me by my waist and holds me back. I struggle against him as hard as I can, but Damon's grip holds strong. I eventually stop fighting, as it was no use, but not before releasing all my anger and pressure at the vampire that stabbed Stefan. Hot pleasure coursed through me as the vampire screamed, grabbing the side of his head.

I had to stop when Frederick said, "You have a nice day," because he shut the door, and my concentration broke. As soon as he shut it, I broke out of Damon's grip. As soon as I was out of his arms, he started walking back to the car.

I run after him. "Hey!" I say, trying to get his attention, but he ignored me. Angry, I start giving him the same aneurysm as I did to Billy. He groaned and turned to face me. "What?"

I stop the mental assault when he turns around. "Why the hell did you stop me?! I'm not a vampire, I didn't have to be invited in!"

"Because the moment you would have stepped in there you would have been dead," Damon said.

"I'm a witch! I could have taken them!" I say, rain falling even harder on my body. "I thought that was the whole reason you brought me with you!"

"You're out of practice! I doubt you could have taken on three vampires by yourself. Frederick would have snapped your neck the second you tried to walk past the front door."

I hated to admit it, but Damon was right. I wasn't trained very properly, because I never needed to use my powers before. Sure, I could fend for myself against one vampire, but more than one would have been trouble for me.

I finally calmed down enough. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're right," I say, and nearly choke on what I say next. "I'm sorry, Damon."

Damon smirks. "How do those words taste coming out of your mouth?"

"Like I'm throwing up my own blood that tasted like vinegar," I say, then try to rub some warmth back into my arms. I didn't want to look him in the eye after my outburst, so I started walking again. To my surprise, I felt something heavy against my shoulders. I look over, and see a jacket on them. Then I look to Damon, who was jacketless. He wasn't looking at me, either.

"Thanks," I mumble quietly, and Damon just nods to acknowledge that he heard me. After that, we ran back to the car, and as we did, I slipped my arms into the sleeves.

Elena opened an umbrella, and came out of the car. Damon and I immediately went under it.

"What happened? Where is he?" Elena asked anxiously.

"They have him. I can't get in," Damon said.

"Why not?"

"Because the woman who owns the house is compelled to not let me in," he explained.

"I can get in," Elena said, and moves to run inside. Damon stops her before she could though.

"You're not going in there," He said, grabbing her firmly by the arms.

"I'm going!" She said.

"You're not going in there," He repeated.

I groan when Elena pushes away from Damon. "Give it a rest Elena, if he won't let me, then there is no way in hell is he going to let you."

Elena looks from me to Damon. "Why are they doing this? What do they want with him?"

"Revenge. They want revenge," I say, remembering Frederick's words.

"We gotta do something," Elena says.

"No shit, smart one," I say under my breath. Elena didn't hear me, but Damon sure did. He nudged me slightly before saying, "I know."

"We can't let them hurt him. We gotta get him out of there," Elena said, starting to panic.

Damon grabbed her by the shoulders to calm her down. 'I know. Elena, I know. But I don't know how to get him out."

"We need someone who can get in and out," Elena said, running a hand through her hair.

An idea forms in my head. We need someone to get inside the house. Someone that the tomb vampires wouldn't recognize, someone who wasn't a vampire, and someone who could cheat death, should they be killed. And only one name came to mind.

"I know a person," I suddenly say, and they both turn to look at me.

-0-

It took a second to explain to Damon and Elena what I meant, but as soon as they got it, we went right to Mystic Falls high school, where we were hoping Alaric Saltzman was.

We eventually found Alaric, and after he and Damon had their boy talk, I rolled my eyes and interrupted them. "We don't have time for this," I say, stepping between them. I turn to Alaric. "Mr. Saltzman, we need your help."

He saw me and Elena, and curtly nodded before we all walked into his classroom. Elena started explaining the situation. "Stefan's in the house. Damon's a vampire. He can't get in. We need you," she turns back and gestures to me. "Either one of us would have gone, but-"

"But your lives are valuable," Damon said, cutting her off. "Yours, on the other hand is..."

I rolled my eyes at him. "The point is, we need you. And your ring," I say, pointing at his hand.

Ric quickly glances down at his hand. "What about it?"

"Let me recap," Damon started. "You tried to kill me. I defended myself. You died. Then according to my brother and this one," Damon said, gesturing to me. "Your ring brought you back to life. Am I leaving anything out?"

"Yeah. The part where I try and kill you again," Alaric said, standing up. "Only this time, I don't miss," Alaric threatens.

"Mr. Saltzman. Please. It's Stefan," Elena tried pleading.

"I'm sorry, Elena. But it's not my problem," Ric said to her.

"That's a shame," Damon started. Because the woman in charge of the crowd can help you find your wife."

Alaric's eyes widen. "You're lying,"

"Am I? Why don't you ask her for yourself?" Damon said with a growl. "Coward. Come on, Danni, Elena," Damon said, and they started walking to the door.

If we were really going to leave, I was going to try one last time. I put either hand on Alaric's desk, and lean forward a little. "Listen, Alaric. From what I could gather about you, you've lost your family to vampires. And, believe it or not, I have too," I say, and Elena's and Damon's heads snap in my direction. I ignore them as I continue to talk. I point between Alaric and myself. "You and me, we have more in common than you think. If you help us, maybe I can help you in return."

Alaric crosses his arms. "And how would you be doing that, Ms. James?"

I take a deep breath. "I'm a witch, Mr. Saltzman. I'm not that good at it, but my magic is naturally powerful. I can help you do whatever you need to."

Alaric seems to consider it, then turns to Damon and Elena before they could leave. "All right! Wait. I'll go."

Damon looks over to me, and he smirks. I roll my eyes at him as Alaric takes out a bag. He sets it on the desk, and opens it, reveal a arsenal of vampire weapons.

I whistle lowly. "Damn Alaric, I had no idea you were in the running for the remake of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer," I say.

"I've you to thank for that," Alaric said, looking over to Damon.

"What are these?" Elena asks.

Alaric points to the darts. "Those are tranquilizer darts filled with vervain."

"Just get me in. I'll get Stefan out," Damon said.

"That's your plan? You're just gonna take them all on yourself?" Elena asks.

"We saw how well that worked out last time," I say.

"Well, I'll be a little stealthier than that, hopefully," Damon said.

Elena grabs one of the vervain darts, and Alaric stops her. "Whoa. What are you doing?"

"I'm going with you guys," she says.

"No. No. No. No. No way," Damon said right away.

"You need me. I'll get in. You could distract them, and then I'll get Stefan out."

"You'll get yourself killed. You're not going in there," Damon said.

"I'm going," Elena tried to say, but Damon just ignored her, turning to Alaric. "So, when you get me in, get out as quickly as you can. I know how to sneak around where they can't hear me. You'll basically just be in the way."

"Damon, now is not the time to be the lone ranger," Elena says.

He finally turns to her, obviously agitated. "Fine. Danni can drive the getaway car, and you can be her little helper. You're not going in the house."

"You can't stop me. It's Stefan we're talking about here. You don't understand," Elena started.

"Oh, I understand, Elena. I understand. He's the reason you live. His love lifts you up where you belong. I get it."

Elena rolls her eyes, shaking her head at him. "Can you just not joke around for 2 seconds?"

"And I am _no one's _getaway driver," I protest.

"I can't protect you two, Elena," Damon said angrily. "I don't know how many vampires there are in there." He snaps his fingers. "That's how long it takes you to get your head ripped off. I have to be able to get in and get out. I can't be distracted with your safety. Or this will end up a bloodbath that none of us walk away from..." His voice went gentle, and slightly emotional, shocking me to the core. "Including Stefan. I know. I get it. I understand."

She sighs, but as a girl, I can tell that it was fake. "Fine, I understand."

Damon turns to me. "Danni?"

"I'm the witch here, Damon. I can take care of myself," I say, crossing my arms.

Damon looked like he was going to say something, but Alaric interrupted him. "If we're gonna go, let's go."

-0-

Damon had actually formed a sort of plan. However, I didn't like it that much. "You," Damon said, pointing at Ric, "Are gonna go up and act like you need help. Bring the human out to me. Okay?"

"I'm going with you," I say, taking my seatbelt off to go with Ric.

Damon grabs me by the hand on the door, stopping me. "The hell you are. You can't go in there. They know that you know about them, they'd tear you and Male-Buffy here to pieces." Damon responded, pushing me back down into the car. "Stay with Elena and…drive the get away car."

"I am not-!" I start.

I was abruptly cut off when Damon slammed the door in my face. I groan in aggravation as Damon and Ric left. I looked over to the other person in the car, and I see that she has the same look on her face.

Elena cautiously looked over to me. "I thought your family passed away in a fire."

My heart instantly clenches at the thought of my family, and it must have been painted on my face because Elena said, "I'm sorry I asked. I shouldn't have."

"No, no," I say, shaking my head. "It was exactly what I said. I think they were killed by vampires, but only one body was actually partially drained of blood. The rest had their necks snapped, and the doctors had said that the cause of death was smoke inhalation was the cause of death. They were dead before the flames reached them."

"I'm so sorry," Elena started, but I couldn't handle being given sympathy again. I had gotten enough of it at the funeral, and everywhere else. I didn't need it from my ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend.

To help escape the tension, I crawled from the backseat and into the front, so that I was sitting shotgun. Elena got into the driver's seat, and when I looked down, I saw that Ric had left his bag of vampire weapons in the car. I look behind me, and see that there were several weapons that could do a vampire some damage.

I look up to Elena, as if asking her if she wanted to go after them. I honestly didn't care if she did, all I knew was that I needed to do it. Ignoring Elena's stares, I reached into the bag and pulled out a syringe full of vervain before handing it to her. Then, I reached back again and pulled out another syringe and a wooden stake for myself. I opened the car door, about to get out, but Elena grabs me before I can get out.

"What are you doing?" She asked eyeing the weapons in my hand.

"I'm not just gonna sit back and let them do all the work. Didn't you hear me? I am not getaway girl," I say, and move to leave again.

But like before, Elena stopped me. "Why are you doing this?"

I growl. "Because Stefan was a really important person in my life once. And even though I haven't done anything to prove it, he's still important to me. I'll be damned if I let him die," I say.

I move to leave _again,_ and Elena still won't let go of my arm. Fed up, I turned to face her. "God damn it, Elena, do you want to save him or not?" I snapped wretching my arm from her grip and finally getting out of the car. Elena let out a yelp causing me to turn around quickly only to see a tree branch had fallen onto the car. I heard Elena sigh in relief before she gripped the syringe tighter and got out with me. I nodded to her before the two of us jogged up towards the house. We quickly ducked under one of the windows at the front of the house when we heard voice getting closer.

I turn to her and barely whisper, "Okay. I'm gonna go inside. You head down that way," I point to an entrance that more than likely lead to the cellar.

She shakes her head. "No. We need to stick together. If we split up we're gonna get killed."

"Trust me, Elena, I can take care of myself. And this is the perfect opportunity for you to prove that you can too. Now, go!" I hissed, and push her in the direction of the stairs.

She gave me one last look before she darted down the stairs. I quickly check to make sure that no one was in sight, then started moving around the porch, making my way towards the back of the house. I was careful to make sure I wasn't in view of any windows. I crept silently along the porch until I reached the back door leading into the kitchen. I quickly darted into the room after I opened the door before gently and quietly closing it behind me.

I peeked in, and saw two vampires standing inside. Carefully, I walked around the bodies and towards another doorway that probably lead to the hallway. As I passed the second body I nudged it slightly with my foot. When I got to the doorway, I looked behind me to see if anyone was behind me, I jumped and nearly screamed when the door leading into the kitchen from the hallway swung open. Thinking fast, I quickly hid behind the island and clutched the stake to my chest, hard. So hard that my knuckles had started to turn white. I closed my eyes and concentrated on whoever had entered the kitchen.

After a moment I heard the person grunting in pain before the sound of probably the vampire dropping to the ground reached my ears. As soon as I heard the thud, I leapt up, catching the attention of the vampire momentarily before I drove the stake directly into his heart. He started turning grey, and black veins grow all over his body, signifying that he was dead. I quickly checked and made sure he was dead. As I did, I heard someone barking orders for the other vampires to spread out. I had already used my stake, I was down to one vervain dart and my powers. But a little voice told me that wasn't gonna be enough.

Ugh, that little voice was Damon's. It was like he was standing beside me, mocking me.

I turn and run to the door, only to feel someone grab the back of my shirt. I didn't even have time to scream as he flung me backwards. I hit the island before sliding across the surface. Then I went crashing to the floor along with everything that was on the countertop. I groaned in pain, and say that I was bleeding slightly. I didn't have time to dawn on it, though. I looked up and saw the vampire's face change. Since I couldn't stand up (some from pain, but mostly from sheer shock), I started sliding backwards away from the approaching vampire before a grunting noise coursed through the room. I watched as the vampire drop to his knees, and standing behind him was Alaric Saltzman.

"Come on," he whispered holding his hand out. Hesitantly, I reached up and grabbed it. When I did, he pulled me up to my feet. "You were supposed to stay in the car."

"What can I say? I'm a rebel," I say. Alaric looked up to where I was bleeding, and looked around the room. He found a rag, and wrapped it around my head.

As soon as he was sure I was okay, he held up his gun that had stakes attached, instead of bullets. Okay, that's it. If we have to vote on a Buffy, my money is on Alaric.

After a silent argument of who would go first, Alaric stepped out into the hallway first with me right behind him. Ric put a hand out, stopping me before going forward himself. I wait behind until I heard the sound of a gunshot. The popping sound is all my feet need to move forward.

I run into the hallway and see Ric standing there with the gun still up. I looked to where it was pointing, and saw Damon kneeling on top of another vampire. My best guess was that the vampre thought that he could get the upperhand of Damon Salvatore. I think the vampires here seem to be forgetting that they've spent the last 145 years dessicating in a tomb, and Damon has spent the last 145 years getting stronger. I stood cautiously behind Ric as Damon looked between us an unreadable expression of his face.

"I'm going after Frederick," Damon said suddenly, jumping off the other vampire before disappearing. I wanted to run after him, but Ric grabbed me by the arm before I could, and shook his head. This left Ric and I standing alone in the hallway. The too quiet hallway.

"Mr. Saltzman," I barely whispered as we both went back to back, looking around and waiting for something to jump out at us. I jump about a foot in the air when I hear the sound of something knocking over. I look over to Alaric, and I could tell by the anxious look on his face that he was just as on edge as I was.

I let my guard down for a few seconds when an arm wraps around my neck and yanks me backwards. I feel a breeze fly by me and towards Ric as I was being forcably dragged backwards. I watched helplessly as Ric struggled with the vampire. He tried not to scream as it bit into his neck, and the two of them hit the table that was in the hallway. My line of vision was cut off by the vampire behind me pulling us into the billiards room.

I struggled as hard as I could with the vampire before he swung me around and slammed me down onto the pool table. I yelp at the pain of a pool stick digging into my back as the vampire approached me. Not knowing what else to do, I threw my hands up in front of me, causing the vampire to fling backwards into the book shelf behind him. I quickly sit up and grab the pool stick that was digging into my back, and quickly get off of the table. As the vampire charged at me again, I shove the pool stick forward. Satisfaction pours through me when I hear the crunching sound of the tip of the stick entering the vampire's chest. The vampire looked from me to the stick, confusion clear on his face before he fell to the ground.

"Danni!" I hear Ric call out. I turn to the doorway as he and Damon came in.

"I thought I told you to stay in the car," Damon growled as I walked up to them.

"And I thought I told you I wasn't a getaway girl!" I say. "Did Stefan make it out?" I ask, causing Damon to roll his eyes. He just grabs me by the arm roughly and pulls me out of the room, Ric following close behind.

"Elena has him. They're both fine and on their way to the car, which is where you're supposed to be."

I roll my eyes at him. We make it onto the porch when Damon finally lets go of my arm. We all immediately froze in our steps when we saw what was waiting for us.

Approaching the house were ten or so vampires and not a single one of them looked happy. I glance over at Damon, who was still staring at the approaching vamps.

"How many of those vervain darts do you have left?" Damon asks Ric. Ric looks down at his bag before answering.

"One."

I reach into my pocket and took out the vervain dart I had taken before I came. "Make that two."

"Not gonna be enough," Damon says as he grabs my wrist. He starts pulling me backwards with him, and I'm so terrified that I actually let him. We all went back into the house. Me in the front, behind me was Damon and closing up the back was Ric.

"So, what you said to get me to do this, about my wife. It was a lie, wasn't it?" Ric asked staring at the door.

"Yup," Damon confessed.

"Damon here might be a compulsive liar, but I'm not, Ric," I say. "What I told you was true. You helped us with Stefan, I'll help you with Isobel, if you want it."

Ric didn't have a chance to answer as someone had walked in. "Stop! What's going on here?" The person said, and the voice revealed it to be a female. I held tightly onto the vervain dart, just in case. The door opens, revealing a woman in her late 30s and a young girl in her teens. Mother and daughter vamps? That was a new one.

The woman glanced around at the dead bodies around us before looking up at Damon.

"What did you do?" she asked Damon angrily.

"Me? Your merry little band of vampires spent the day torturing my brother."

"Trust me. The parties responsible for this will be dealt with."

"Our little arrangement doesn't work unless you learn to control them," Damon responded. I looked over to him curiously. Was this the woman that was gonna help him get the infamous Katherine back?

"This wasn't supposed to happen," she responded truthfully, gazing around the house shamefully.

"Well, it did. If I had a good side...Not a way to get on it," Damon said moving past the woman.

Not wanting to be here any longer than I had to, I followed behind Damon, Alaric taking the back again. Hmm. I wonder if this was going to be the only time we collaborated with Alaric Saltzman. I hope not, for he was definitely someone I wanted on my team if a zombie apocalypse hit.

-0-

Damon dropped me home, and I was surprised when the front door opened as soon as I came into view. And who was it but Uncle Roger?

"Where were you?" He demanded as I walked past him.

"I was out," I say.

"Don't give me that, Danielle," He said, grabbing me by the arm. "This is a serious thing. It's one of the worst storms of the year, and all we get is a voicemail from you saying that you went out?"

"Well it's not my fault if you didn't answer the phone," I say, and move to go upstairs.

"Danni!" Uncle Roger exclaimed, and I stopped at the end of the stairs.

"What?" I ask. "It's not that bad. I'm sorry, next time I'll take my cell phone and I'll tell you when I'm gone."

"It's not that," Uncle Roger said, and rubbed at his eyes. "They found a girl tonight."

"Girl? As in, body?" I ask, stepping down the stairs.

He nods. "Yeah. It was a girl, a little bit older than you. Vicki Donovan."

"Donovan," I whisper, and my hand flies to my mouth. That must be Matt's sister...

"Yeah. We were all worried sick that something could have happened to you too. You scared us to death, Danni."

I blink back tears and pull Uncle Roger into a hug. "I'm sorry. And I know that I must still be in trouble, but I have to go. I know Vicki Donovan's brother. And Tyler mentioned that he dated a Vicki."

"Really?" He asked, and I nodded. He sighed, but gave me his keys. "Drive safely."

I nod, racing out the door. "I will!" I call back.

I immediately drive up to the Donovan house. I get out of the car, and see that a whole bunch of other cars were there too. Mourners.

I walked up to the house, and knocked on the door. A very red eyed Matt answered the door. "Danni?"

"Yeah," I say.

"I didn't think you'd be coming," He said, opening the door for me to come in.

"I know. I'm sorry about Vicki, Matt. I know what it's like to lose siblings," I tell him, and pull him into a hug.

He started crying against my shoulder. "I just-I just don't-"

"Shh," I say. "Don't talk."

He quickly pulled away. "I should get back to my mom," He said.

I nod. "I'll be here. I'll always be here, Matt." I tell him.

I was going to go farther into the house and see if I could find Tyler, but my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID, and walked outside so that I could answer it.

"What is it now?" I ask.

"We might have a bit of a problem with Stefan," Damon's voice said into the phone.

"Problem? What problem?" I ask.

**TBC...**

**Leaving it at a cliffhanger! Ooh, I'm evil!**

**I'm so excited for the chapters to come! They're going to be a lot of fun!**

_** Review Responses:**_

_** Damon's Charlene: **_**I liked that there wasn't a lot of episode stuff in the last episode. It felt nice LOL**

_**grapejuice101**_**: I feel bad for Danni too! Although I am the one doing these things to her...**

_** ddluzelle:**_** Thanks so much!**

_** TeamComrade11**_**: Thanks! I hope you continue to like it!**

_**Riana Salvatore:**_** I really should have thought that one through...**

_** VampireSa5m1993: **_**Here's more!**

_** WriteToEscapeReality1309: **_**Thanks! I didn't even plan for her to know Katherine until I was writing it LOL. That's where most of my ideas come from!**

_**Ruby:**_** Thank you so so so so much!**

_** hayden: **_**Stefan did love her once upon a time, so it's only natural for him to have some lingering feelings for her.**

_** Guest:**_** I know! I love her and Damon too! And thanks so much!**

**Danni's outfits on Polyvore!**

**REVIEW! THANKS! STAY TUNED!**


	4. The Big Surprise

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Vampire Diaries. I do own my OC, Danielle "Danni" James, and any other characters I make up!

**Author's note:** I'm loving the reviews! You're all too sweet!

Thank you to Damon's Charlene, grapejuice101, Riana Salvatore, WriteToEscapeReality1309, and hayden for the wonderful reviews last chapter!

**Enjoy!**

I stood in front of the mirror of one of the many rooms in the Lockwood mansion. Aunt Carol had insisted that she help me dress for the Founder's Party, and of course she goes with way girly.

The party had already started, but I didn't want to go down. I didn't know anyone down there. And the one person I did, I didn't even like all that much. Elena had really started to get on my nerves.

I started playing with my hair, trying to set it right after Aunt Carol put into a side up do.

"Nice dress," I hear from behind me, and I turn around. I roll my eyes when I see who it is.

"And may I ask why you are in my room?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"I'm here to escort you to the Founder's Party," Damon says.

"Why would I need an escort?"

"Because people don't know you, but they know me," Damon said. "With a Salvatore on your arm, people will definitely notice you. Besides, look at me," Damon said, looking down at his tuxedo. "I'm gorgeous."

I can't help but laugh at him. "And the real reason, Damon?"

"Because of Stefan's little problem," Damon answered. "I don't know how he's going to act tonight. I need you to help me make sure that the boy stays on his best behaviour."

I really didn't want to believe Damon about Stefan drinking human blood again. Stefan told me that the reason that he steered clear of it, and it's not something that Stefan has ever been proud of.

But Stefan hasn't been in school all week, and he hasn't contacted me. I mean, he usually calls me or texts me to talk to him, but nope. Nada.

I take one last look in the mirror. Self-consciously, I ask Damon, "Do I-do I look nice? Really?"

Damon's crossed over the room in two seconds. "You have never looked so beautiful."

A blush crawls in my cheeks. "Thanks," I say, and clear my throat.

Damon holds his arm out. "Shall we?"

I smile, and take it, "We shall."

Damon and I go down the stairs, and almost everyone in the room turns to look at us. They quickly stop as we make it to the bottom of the stairs. Damon turns to me, "Hey, I'm going to go get a drink. Stay here."

I had no intention of staying in the same spot while Damon went off to get drunk. I waited until he was gone, then started walking in the opposite direction.

As soon as I rounded a corner, I accidentally collided with someone.

"Sorry," we both mutter, and I look up to see a sort of familiar man. The look on the man's face was like one of awe, and it sort of freaked me out.

"Hi, do I know you?" I ask him.

He snaps out of his daze before extending a hand. "Sorry. I'm Jonathan Gilbert. I was good friends with your father."

The memory resurfaces. "Right! Uncle John!" I say. "Although you're technically not my real Uncle. I remember seeing you at the funeral."

"Yeah, yeah. So how have you been, Danni?" He asked me.

I shrug my shoulders. "Okay, I guess. So, Gilbert? As in Elena Gilbert?" I ask.

"Yeah, she's my niece."

"Nice. I'm a friend of hers." Could we be considered friends?

"That's good," John said. "So who do you stay with here?"

"My Uncle Roger, and his family."

"Oh. I would have thought that Roger would have moved away from Mystic Falls. That's all he ever talked about during high school."

"Wait, you knew me Uncle?" I ask him.

"Yeah. Me, him, and your dad. We were practically inseperable."

"Then what happened?"

John looked down at his shoes. "I left Mystic Falls. Your father stayed, and had a family. Your family. We all stayed in contact at first, but we fell out eventually." Then he asked me something that completely threw me off. "So have you noticed anything strange around here?"

My heartbeat picks up. "Strange? What do you mean?"

"I mean strange. You know, the things that go bump in the night," John teased, then started laughing. "You should have seen the look on your face."

"Yeah," I say, laughing lightly with him. Time to make my escape. "Well, I'm actually supposed to meet someone, so I'll catch you later?"

"Who are you meeting?" He asks.

In an effort to get out of there as fast as I could, I quickly said any name that came to mind. "I have to talk to Damon Salvatore," I say, and took off. I look behind me to make sure that John didn't follow me, and I nearly bumped into Rory and Isaac.

"Danni!" They say, hugging at my legs.

I laugh and bend down to their level, giving them both hugs. "How you rascal's liking the party?"

"It's great! The food here is good!" Isaac said excitedly.

I laugh at my cousin's enthusiasm. "That's great. Where's your mommy?"

Rory points back towards the main area. "She's over there with Daddy."

I go confused. "Wait, then who's supposed to be watching you?"

"Tyler. Mommy's not feeling good, so daddy stayed back to make sure she was otay," Isaac said.

"Then why aren't you with Tyler?" I ask.

They both shrug. "He started acting weird, so we both left."

Weird? Oh, Tyler better not be getting drunk. I'll kill him.

"Okay, how about I drop you back to Mommy and Daddy, okay?" I ask them, and they both nod. I take them by their hand and lead them back to where my Aunt and Uncle were. I dropped them off, then went looking for Tyler. He was going to get an ass whooping from me for almost putting my little cousins in danger.

I looked to the door that lead to the balcony, and saw someone in there. I stepped closer to see who, and I saw that it was Damon outside, and that he was talking to John Gilbert. Vampire and Gilbert is just asking for trouble.

Forgetting about Tyler, I walked out there to see what was going on, causing their conversation to stop when I got there.

"John," I say, nodding my head to him. "Damon," I say to Damon, doing the same thing. "What are you gentleman talking about?"

"Nothing-" Damon started, but was cut off.

"What you think Damon? You know this vampire problem is real right? It's a potential bloodbath. Isn't that right, Danni?" John asked putting his arm around my shoulders. I gazed up at him a shocked look on my face. "Oh don't give me that look. You know more than Damon here."

"Oh, I wouldn't overreact, John," Damon said coolly trying to play off John's last statement.

"Oh, I think it's like 1864 all over again, vampires running amuck. I guess we're just gonna have to hunt them down, throw them in a church and burn them to ash. What do you think, Danni?"

I looked up at John in horror at what he knew, and instinctively made my way to Damon. He somehow knew that I knew about the vampires.

"That is the story huh?" Damon asked, not even looking at John as he took a drink, while I couldn't take my eyes off of him.

"Part of the story."

"Oh, there's more?" Damon asked sarcastically, still not meeting John's gaze.

"Oh, there's a lot more. See, it seems there was a tomb under the church, where vampires were hidden, waiting for someone to come along and set them free. But then you already knew that didn't you?" John said, directing the last question to Damon.

I looked over to Damon, and he actually looked a little uncomfortable. He was also still not looking at John. Damon was not one to let someone else out-man him.

"I mean, you're the one that did it," John continued.

"And you're telling me this why?" Damon asked.

"I just thought we get the introduction outs of the way. I mean, I already know our resident _witch,_" John said, turning to me.

My stomach dropped. How did he know?

"You know that I could rip your throat out before anyone would notice?" Damon hissed, stepping in front of me.

"Yeah," John said, obviously not impressed with Damon's little threats. "Not very gentlemany to do it in front of a lady, though."

"Yeah, okay. But you probably ingest vervain so…"

"Why don't you take a bite to find out?" John taunted. Damon smirks at him before turning away from John, grabbing my hand as he did.

"It's not worth my time," He said, and we started to walk away.

Damon suddenly came to a stop, releasing my hand as he did. Both men stared at each other. They both had a satisfied smirk on their lips, causing me to glanced back and forth between the two, confused.

Before I could even blink, Damon was in front of John breaking his neck in one fluid movement before quickly picking up his body and tossing him off the balcony.

I gasped, "Damon!" I said in disbelief, and run for John.

But Damon grabbed me by the waist before I could. "Stop it, will you?" He asked, and started dragging me back to the party. "I did us both a favour."

"How? You killed him!" I protest, looking behind me at the balcony were John Gilbert's body laid.

"I did what I had to, get over it," Damon said, and let me go at my waist, only to grab me by the hand. Probably to make sure that I don't go running after John, which is exactly what I was going to do as soon as he had let of of me.

Damon and I walked over to Stefan. "You want to hear the bad news or the really bad news?"

I furrowed my eyebrows at the whiskey glass in Stefan's hand. Stefan was drinking? "Actually, I don't want any news Damon."

"Alright, let me rephrase," He started. "Do you want to hear how the council is back in vampire mode or how I just killed Uncle John Gilbert?"

"What?" Stefan asked, and I could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"Great party by the way, huh?" Damon asked, as if everything was okay. Then he lead me back inside. I looked behind me once, to see a very confused Stefan.

Stefan once told me that alcohol was used by vampires to help curb blood cravings. But with animal blood, Stefan never had a problem before. I hated to say it, but maybe Damon was right. Stefan was still on human blood.

We walk inside, and I hear Damon mutter under his breath, 'You got to be kidding me."

I turn my head at him. "What?"

He doesn't get to answer, because Uncle Richard started talking at the front. "Thank you all, thank you very much, thank you," he said, calming the crowd down. "Thank you all for joining us tonight in just a few moments we will officially begin the countdown to our upcoming founders' day celebration and it's a very special one this year. The one hundred fiftieth birthday of our town and I would like to welcome back one of our town favorite's sons to do the honors of inging our official charter bell. John Gilbert," Wait a second, did Uncle Rich just say what I thought he said? I look over to where he was pointing, and my stomach dropped when I saw the supposedly dead John Gilbert. "Would you please join me up here?"

"Wasn't he dead two minutes ago?" I ask Damon quietly.

"Yeah," He responded.

John and everyone in the crowd claps and joins Uncle Rich on stage. He took the microphone, and started talking. "One hundred and fifty years of community, prosperity, family. We take care of each other, we look after each other, protect each other," At the last part, he looks over to Damon. "It's good to be home."

Everyone starts applauding, and Damon takes my hand again to lead me over to where Alaric was.

"Look at his right hand," He said to Ric.

"Who's?" Ric asked, confused.

Damon rolls his eyes. "Towns favorite's son. Look at his ring."

John rings the bell, and as his hands grip the rope, I see that he's wearing a ring that looks exactly like Alaric's.

"Well, it looks like mine," Ric said.

"Yeah, and that would be a big coincidence if he didn't just came back from the death 5 minutes ago," Damon said sarcastically. "Where the hell did you get that ring?"

"Isobel, my wife," Ric replied, in a voice that seemed to say that he didn't know why where he got it from was important.

"Who gave birth to Elena, under the medical care of the esteemed DR Grayson Gilbert, John's brother!" Damon said, looking from Alaric to me.

The three of us look back to John.

"Do you think John knew Isobel?" Alaric asks.

"I think John knows a lot of things," Damon answers.

"If I had to think anybody was sketchy, I'd say John. He knew me when I was a kid," I say, and Damon looked over to me, clearly surprised.

"Really?" He asked.

"Apparently," I say. "He hasn't seen me in a few years. You would have thought he hadn't seen me before in his life. He looked like a fish out of water."

John finishes the bell ringing part, and looks like he's starting to leave, so Alaric, Damon, and I start following him.

"Going somewhere?" Damon asked.

"I've never liked to be the last one to leave a party. It's too desperate," He said. "You're going to kill me again or you're gonna let Mr. Saltzman do your dirty work?" John asked casually.

"Okay, you obviously know who I am," Alaric said as he stopped walking.

"I do. Alaric Saltzman, a high school history teacher with a secret," He said.

"Sure know a lot for someone who just got to town," Damon said interestingly.

"More than you can imagine, Damon. My knowledge of this town goes beyond anything that you," He looks over to Damon, "Nor you," He looks over to Alaric, " Or the council knows. So, if you're planning on some clever high speed snatch ring vamp kill move, know that if I die, everything I know goes to the council including the fascinating little tale of the originals Salvatore brothers and their present day return to Mystic Falls."

Damon, for once, is speechless.

"How did you get that ring?" I asked him.

"I had inherited one, my brother Gray had the other. This was his," He holds up his hand, showing us. "And I wouldn't have given mine to Isobel if I had known she'd hand it over to another guy."

"So you did know her?" Damon asked.

"Who do you think send her your way when she wanted to become a vampire?" John asked, his eyebrows high.

Damon's eyebrows raised in surprise. "_You_ sent her?"

John smirked. "Guilty. Why, did you think someone else send her? Maybe Katherine Pierce?" Damn, why was _everyone _obsessed with this Katherine girl?

"How do you know about Katherine?" He asked suspiciously.

"How do I know anything Damon?" He retorted.

"What do you want?" Damon asked finally.

"So many questions," John said wishfully. He looked over at Ric and smirked, "It was nice meeting you Ric. I've heard so much about you."

John grabs me by the arm. "I need to talk you."

Damon growls. "Like hell she is," he said, grabbing my other arm.

Not wanting to end up like Deandra in Most Popular Girls in School, I looked over to Damon. "It's okay, I'll talk to him," I say, and take my other arm out of his grip. Maybe what John has to say is important.

He leads me a good distance away from them before he starts whispering. "I want you to stay away from the Salvatores."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because they'll only end up giving you trouble."

"Who do you think you are, my father?" I ask angrily. "You just met me! Even though you claim to know me, you know nothing about me since my family died. I'm a completely different person, Mr. Gilbert," I say, and push past him to go back to Damon and Alaric.

Just as I reached them, Uncle Roger comes running outside. "Danni! Danni!" He called, really out of breath.

"What?" I asked. Did something happen?

"Aunt Alice is in labor," He said.

"What?" I asked in disbelief. She wasn't due for a few more weeks!

"We have to go, come on!" He said, and grabbed me by the hand. I looked back at Damon and Alaric, who both looked really surprised. I ignored them and ran with my Uncle to his car.

We got to the hospital, and started waiting. And waiting. And waiting for the arrival of my new baby cousin, and Rory and Isaac's new sibling.

The Lockwoods had come too. I knew because I had started drifting off on Tyler's shoulder. I was awaken when Tyler shook me awake. "Hey, Danni, I'm going home for some sleep. If you want, I can drop you and the boys home and get you in the morning."

I nodded, and Tyler dropped us home. We didn't even make it upstairs. I just passed out on the smaller sofa, with the boys on the bigger one.

When I woke up again, Tyler was calling the house. I quickly changed my clothes, not bothering with a shower since Tyler was waiting outside. I quickly hustled the boys into new clothes too, and we were running outside.

We went to the hospital, and started waiting again. My poor aunt. She's been in labor for at least 10 hours, maybe more.

I had started feeling hungry when Uncle Roger finally stepped out of the delivery room, a huge grin on his face. He looked down to Rory and Isaac. "Would you boys like to meet your new baby sister?"

The both smiled happily, nodding their head. Uncle Roger looked up to me too. "Come on, Danni."

I smile, and carefully walk into the room, where my aunt was laying down on the table with a bundle. I got closer, and saw the beautiful face of my new baby cousin.

We all sighed happily. She looked perfect.

"What's her name?" Rory asked gently.

"Elaine," Uncle Roger answered.

I cringed. "Elaine? Do you want your child to be made fun of in school?"

"Before you get all judgey, we're calling her Ella for short," Uncle Roger explained.

I nodded, and the six of us stood there, watching little Ella sleep.

It wasn't the perfect family, but I was happy with it.

-0-

Later that day, Uncle Roger had to get back to work, and the boys were in the cafeteria with Tyler. Aunt Alice had to go to the bathroom, leaving me alone with the baby.

Carefully, I went over and gently picked her up. She fit perfectly into the crook of my arm. "Hey, little Ella. It's me, cousin Danni."

"Who likes to pretend a baby can understand her," Damon's voice says from the doorway.

I look over at him. "What are you doing here?"

He walked further in. "I'm a friend of your family's. I came to congratulate the happy couple." Damon actually cracks a genuine smile. "She looks like you."

I smile, looking from Ella to Damon. "Do you want to hold her?"

He shakes his head. "Where is everybody?"

"Uncle Roger had to get back to work. Ty is in the cafeteria with the boys, and Aunt Alice is in the washroom," I answer, not taking my eyes off of Ella.

"What's her name?" He asks.

"Elaine. Ella, for short. My aunt is into the whole Arthurian legend," I answer.

"I knew an Elaine once," Damon said. "She was pretty tasty."

I groan. "Not in front of the baby."

He holds his hands up in defense. "Fine, fine."

I looked between the two again. "I think you should hold her."

"What? No," Damon immediately said.

"Aw, come on! It's easy to do," I say, and walk over to Damon. Before he could do anything, I put Ella into his arms. He cradled her awkwardly, and she started softly crying.

I roll my eyes at him. "Not like that, you idiot. Have you never held a baby before?"

"Once," He said, as I adjusted his arms. "It was Stefan."

"Look, this is what you have to do," I say, and position Damon's arms so that it was a proper cradle, and so that his hand was gently holding her head up. She instantly stopped crying.

"Hey! Look at that, she stopped crying," Damon said, sounding quite pleased with himself.

She actually smiled a little, and Damon smiled even wider. "Look Danni! She's smiling! She likes me! Though, who wouldn't?" He asked, and I just rolled my eyes at him again. It was sad to think that the last baby Damon held was Stefan, and that was so long ago. He must have been good back then, because he was so awkward now. He kept slipping up, and I had to keep helping him. After a couple of tries, he was finally able to hold her properly for longer, so he started rocking her gently. I watched on, and burst into laughter at Damon's disgusted face as Ella throws up on him.

"Did I forget to mention that she had just eaten?" I ask, taking her back from him as he wiped the vomit off of him in disgust.

"_This_ is why I don't trust babies," he said, glaring at Ella a little.

I just started laughing again, and Damon managed to crack a small smile.

**TBC...**

**I guess you didn't see Ella's birth coming so suddenly, eh? Well, I didn't actually plan it for this chapter. I wanted it before the finale, and at the end of an episode. But all the episodes ends for the last few are all really busy. So, I stuck it in here!**

**Thank you to Damon's Charlene for the wonderful name!**

**Danni's outfits on Polyvore!**

**REVIEW! THANKS! STAY TUNED!**


	5. Secret

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Vampire Diaries. I do own my OC, Danielle "Danni" James, and any other characters I make up!

**Author's note:** I'm loving the reviews! You're all too sweet!

Thank you to Damon's Charlene, grapejuice101, Riana Salvatore, WriteToEscapeReality1309, hayden, ddluzelle, XKaterinaNightingaleX, Ruby, Katie Mikaelson, and TeamComrade11 for the wonderful reviews last chapter!

**Enjoy!**

To say that I was excited to get out of my house was an understatement. Ella was one of those babies that liked to cry _non-freaking-stop_. I mean, I love her and everything, but know one thing that doesn't love her?

My sleep.

Uncle Roger dropped me off, and I was just planning on sleeping through study hall when I heard a car. I turned around, and saw one of those red classic cars riding up the parking lot. And the driver was, surprise surprise, Stefan Salvatore.

But there was something different about him. It really didn't take a scientist to figure it out. He seemed actually...cheery? Somehow. It got even better when he pulled up to Elena, and the proceeded to participate in PDA before he sent her off. I was about to walk away before Stefan opened his trunk to get something.

The bell rung, signaling the beginning of class. I watched as Stefan left, and I quickly looked around to make sure that everyone was gone before I made my way over Stefan's car. Something was up, and my plan to figure it out was to break into his car. A car can actually say a lot about a person.

I walk over to the driver's side, and it was surprisingly unlocked. I rolled my eyes at his ignorance, but when I checked the spotless car, I found nothing. Next, the trunk, which was the last part of the car that Stefan had touched. I went over to it, pulling out the bobby pin that pushed my hair back as I did so. I checked the locks, and was unsurprised to see that while Stefan refurbished the car, he didn't renew the locks. The guy thing to say would be _"It would take away it's value._"

Yeah, okay.

I quickly used the bobby pin to open it up, and grinned when it popped open. That grin disappeared when I actually opened the trunk, only to see loads and loads of empty blood bags from the MYSTIC FALLS HOSPITAL.

So Damon was right. Stefan was drinking human blood again.

I quickly grabbed one of them, shoving it into my bag before I closed the trunk. Then I ran over to my first class, History with Alaric. I slowly and carefully opened the door. His back was to the class, so I tried to tip toe my way to my desk. It was to no avail though, Alaric had seen right through me.

"How nice of you to join us, Ms. James," He said, turning around. "Almost twenty minutes later."

"Gee, Mr. Saltzman, you really prove the whole 'eyes at the back of the head' thing. I'm sorry I'm late."

"Let me guess. You were in the library, catching up on our town's history?"

"You know me, Mr. Saltzman," I say sarcastically. "I'm all about history."

"Take a seat, Danni," He said dryly.

"Yeah, okay," I say, walking over to my seat, right behind, of course, little miss sunshine Elena.

As I sat down, I looked over to see a mocha skinned girl looking at me. I nodded meekly at her, before turning my attention back to Alaric. The entire class I felt like she was watching me, so towards the end of it, I looked back to her, and was surprised to feel a familiar rush of power run over my body. I knew she had felt it to when her piercing eyes widened and she turned to face me. Was this the witch girl that Elena could have been talking about? Brittany, Beatrice, Bella, wait I got it, Bonnie!

As soon as the bell rang, I was on my feet and on my way out of the classroom. I didn't even wait for her, or for Elena, not anybody. I walked over to my locker, and started changing my books. I hear someone lean against the lockers, and when I look over, I roll my eyes at who it was.

"How may I be of service?" I ask sarcastically.

"Cocky now, are we?" Stefan asked, a little too chipper, if you ask me.

"What the hell is your problem?" I ask him.

"What are you talking about?" He asks, a fake clueless look on his face. If I didn't know about the blood drinking, I would have believed the look. But I do, so I looked right through it.

"I'm talking about you drinking human blood again. Ring any bells?" I ask.

"I'm not drinking human blood," he responded seriously, looking me dead in the eyes.

I shake my head in disbelief. "Oh wow, Stefan. Not only do you think you can lie to me, but you lied to me right to my face. Tell me, does Elena know about your after school activities? Mystic Falls hospital seems to be your favourite spot right now, doesn't it?"

I didn't give him the chance to response, because I went to my next class. The rest of the day went like that. Class, avoid Stefan, avoid Elena, repeat. As much as I wanted to spill the beans to Elena and burst her perfect little 'Stefan' bubble, I kept my mouth shut about the blood.

I accidentally bumped into someone as I was walking. I looked up, and locked eyes with Bonnie. I had to get out of here. I knew if I didn't, then 20 questions would start, and I wasn't up for a game.

She grabs my arm before I could run. "Are you a-"

"Bonnie, how have you been?" I say, I cut her off by wrapping an arm around her shoulder. If I was going to talk to her about what happened in class, then it wouldn't be around 100 other people. I led her to the parking lot, where it was much emptier.

"What were you doing in class?" She asks once we stop walking.

"That wasn't me. That was you," I say, and quickly check around again before I ask her my next question. "How do you know about me?"

"I could feel you..." She trailed off, her gaze focused on something behind me. I turn my head, looking to see what she was looking for, and groaned when I saw what it was. Stefan was heading this way.

"I have to go," She suddenly says.

"Same here," I say, and we both went separate ways, causing Stefan to stop and glance between the two of us, pondering who to go after.

I picked up the pace for my long walk home. Sometimes I wonder why Uncle Roger decided to live in the middle of nowhere, especially in somewhere like Mystic Falls. I didn't get very far when I felt someone next to me. I glanced over, and inwardly groan at the sight of Stefan. He didn't say anything at first, but he suddenly stopped in front of me, causing both of us to come to a stop. I roll my eyes, and cross my arms.

"You can't tell Elena," He pleads, a wildly desperate look in his eyes.

"As much as it kills me to say this –and it really does, believe me-she deserves to know. If I was in her position I'd want to know too."

"Danni, I swear to God-"

"What? You'll kill me, Stefan?" I asked sarcastically, glaring at him.

I heard him growl before his face changed. My eyes widen slightly before I quickly focused my energy on Stefan. Stefan tried to fight it at first, but eventually grips his head in pain before falling down to one knee, groaning. I kept my energy focused on him until I was sure he wasn't gonna jump up and kill me. I've never had to use this on Stefan before.

"That was so stupid," I say, kneeling down next to him as he continued to grip his head, still in immense pain. "I'm stronger than you, Stefan. Don't ever forget that. You may be a vampire, but I'm descendent of the Celtic druid clan, some of the most powerful sorcerers to ever exist and you know that. Next time, think twice before trying to attack me. I'm not some pathetic human girl, Stefan. And it would do you a world of good not to forget that."

I stood back up, "I'm so glad we could have this talk, Stefan. Bye," I say teasingly, before going around him and towards my house.

I hate being a bitch to him, but Elena _did _have the right to know what was up with her...vampire boyfriend. I roll my eyes, and as soon as I do, a pounding feeling in my head forms, most likely from using so much power.

I walk into the house, and Aunt Alice comes running to the door. "I finally got the baby to bed. Please be quiet."

"Okay," I whisper. "I'll just be in my room."

My aunt nods, and I go upstairs to my room. I felt so tired from running around all day to avoid Bonnie, Elena, and Stefan.

My eyelids were drooping when I dropped my backpack on the floor. I jumped on my bed, and kept my eyes closed, ready to take a nap.

"Hello," A voice said.

I snap my eyes open, and look over to the voice, only to scream and fall off of my bed. I quickly get off of the floor.

"What the hell are you doing in here, Damon?" I ask the vampire, who was laughing his ass off.

He stopped laughing enough to answer my question. "I stopped by your house to give your aunt a congratulations cake. Really, I needed an excuse to be invited in."

I roll my eyes. "What do you want?"

He shrugs. "Thought you'd deserve to have a good surprise when you came home."

"Okay, you have one minute to explain to me why you're really here before I scream at the top of my lungs that I'm being killed."

"Shh," Damon said, putting a finger to my lip. "Wouldn't want to wake the baby, would you?"

I throw his hand from my mouth. "Seriously, Damon."

"I got a visit from John Gilbert today," He said, grabbing my stuffed elephant named Percy, and planted it firmly on his chest. I won't lie, it was kinda hot. Just a little, though.

"And what'd he say?" I asked.

"We've been partnered together on the Founder's Council," He explains.

"And that relates to me, how?"

"Because John said that he needed this thing called the Gilbert device."

"Again, how does that relate to me? Go talk to a Gilbert about the _Gilbert _device," I say.

"You didn't let me finish," He said, a look of mock hurt on his face. "He mentioned that he wants to recruit you for the council. He was going to talk to your Uncle about it."

"What?" I ask. "Why does John want me on the Founder's council? I'm not a founding family member."

"But you are a witch," He points out. "And witches come in handy when it comes to vampires."

"So you came to warn me?" I ask.

"Who are you going to the Founder's Day Gala with?" Damon suddenly asks. Whoa, talk about serious whiplash from topic change.

"What, are you asking me to the Gala, Damon?" I ask teasingly.

He scoffs, "What makes you think I wanna be seen with you? I just thought that since we are both enemies of John Gilbert, we could two keep an eye on Stefan together, just to make sure that he doesn't do anything stupid that brings John's or anyone else on the council's attention on him."

I bat my eyelashes dramatically, and pretend to swoon."Yes, Damon I would love to go to the Gala with you!" I say, before using his signature smirk on him.

"You know, I never knew how funny you were."

I change the subject back to the guy we were basically babysitting tonight. I reach into my backpack, and take out the empty blood bag packet. "You were right." I hold it up. "I found this, along with fifty-or maybe even more- empty bags in his trunk." I throw it to Damon, who awkwardly catches it. "What are we going to do about him? If he's still drinking human blood, he could be seriously dangerous."

Damon shrugs. "Guess we'll have to see."

I roll my eyes at him. "Thanks," I say sarcastically. "Now get out of my room." I push him off of my bed, and he lands with a satisfying thud.

"Ouch," Damon said in mock pain. "I get the hint."

He moved towards my door, but I stop him. "Wait! You didn't come in through the front door, did you?"

He shakes his head. "Nope. You should really lock your windows."

I growl. "Go on," I say, turning him around and pushing him towards my window.

He gets out halfway, before he turns around and says, "I'll pick you up at 7."

"Yeah, whatever," I say, and actually push him out. He's a vampire, he'll be fine.

"That was rude!" Damon called up.

"I know!" I say back, shutting my window.

As weird as it may sound I was actually looking forward to Stefan Watching with Damon tonight.

I was moving to my bed when I heard a baby cry. I winced at the sound.

"Damn it, Danni!" Aunt Alice said to me as she passed my room to the nursery.

**TBC...**

**I know, not that long, but school has been majorly kicking my butt! I just wanted to update something, so I just decided to do half of this episode, 'cause I really didn't need to include much of the episode for this one.**

**Yeah, I don't know when the next time I'll be updating is, but be sure to watch out for it!**

_**Review Responses:**_

_** Katie Mikaelson: **_**Thank you so much! I **_**love **_**your username, by the way!**

_** TeamComrade11:**_** Thank you!**

_**WriteToEscapeReality1309: **_**Thank you so much! I was laughing so hard when I wrote that scene! I just thought that Damon would be really awkward with a baby, because he's never around babies, and he doesn't know how to act around them.**

_**HAYDEN:**_** I know! AND I DON'T KNOW, DOES SHE?**

_**Ruby: **_**I love Ella already too!**

_**XKaterinaNightingaleX:**_** Thanks so much!**

_**ddluzelle:**_** Thanks, homeslice! (wow I'm never saying that again).**

_**Riana Salvatore:**_** She can't, because you have to apply months before.**

_**Damon's Charlene: **_**Thank you! And I adore the name!**

_**grapejuice101: **_**She really does, doesn't she? **

** Danni's outfits on Polyvore!**

**REVIEW! THANKS! STAY TUNED!**


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